Freeform Secures $14M from NVIDIA and Others for AI-Powered 3D Printing – 3DPrint.com

With expertise forged in space exploration, Freeform’s team of former SpaceX engineers is taking metal 3D printing into the AI era. By combining supercomputing with real-time process control, the founders of this startup hope to rewrite the rules of manufacturing in aerospace, defense, and beyond.

Now, their vision has taken a massive leap forward with a recent venture round raising $14 million from NVIDIA‘s venture capital arm, NVentures, and AE Ventures. This new funding follows Freeform’s $45 million raise in February 2023, led by Two Sigma Ventures, and an undisclosed Series A round in January 2021. In total, the company has raised more than $59 million, allowing it to scale its autonomous 3D printing factories.

These investments also mark Freeform’s entry into the NVIDIA Inception program, a global accelerator that supports over 17,000 startups working with AI, computing, and advanced technologies.

AI-Driven AM

After coming out of stealth mode in February 2023, LA-based Freeform began operating its autonomous metal 3D printing factory that integrates proprietary hardware and AI-driven software to deliver advanced manufacturing solutions. The company’s unique model blends 3D printers with adaptive software that controls the printing process in real-time, promising on-demand production of metal parts across industries like advanced energy, robotics, marine, and consumer electronics.

Freeform has developed a metal additive manufacturing (AM) machine where 18 lasers fire nonstop as two parallel conveyors move plates in and out of the beams, dramatically speeding up production.

The company’s approach to 3D printing could be a game changer. While traditional metal printing methods have been effective, they often face challenges in maintaining consistent quality, lengthy validation processes, and inefficiencies that drive up costs. Instead, Freeform’s proprietary AI-driven 3D printers learn from each print, predicting and controlling outcomes in real-time.

In practical terms, this means that industries where precision is non-negotiable can scale production with much more reliability. Boeing, one of Freeform’s early collaborators, is already tapping into this technology to streamline the production of metal parts for aviation and defense. With AI at the helm, Freeform expects to meet a growing demand for high-quality, digitally verified parts at a fraction of the time and cost.

Freeform’s 3D printer. Image courtesy of Freeform.

To the Manufacturing Frontier

Freeform’s roots in SpaceX engineering are a key factor in its approach. The company’s founders, veterans of the high-stakes aerospace environment, have brought the same precision and innovation that propelled rockets to Mars into the world of metal AM. In fact, this is a growing direction among SpaceX alumni—engineers who, after leaving the rocket business, have gone on to create startups that use 3D printing, like Relativity Space or Varda Space Industries.

Freeform is part of a small but growing list of such ventures. SpaceX’s unique culture of rapid iteration, innovation under pressure, and problem-solving has inspired engineers to bring that same approach to new industries. Founded by Erik Palitsch and Thomas J. Ronacher, Freeform uses AI-driven processes to lead this movement, showing how the skills developed in space exploration can change industries back on Earth.

Thomas J. Ronacher and Zachary Murphree with the Freeform team on site. Image courtesy of Freeform via LinkedIn.

At its core, Freeform isn’t just about printing metal parts; it’s about using AI to completely rewrite the rules of manufacturing. Leveraging NVIDIA’s accelerated computing platform, Freeform’s AI-driven platform ensures real-time predictive control over the physics of metal 3D printing, allowing the process to adapt on the fly.

Freeform’s membership in the NVIDIA Inception program positions the company among the ranks of other AI-driven tech leaders. Inception is all about providing startups like Freeform with access to resources, expertise, and powerful tools to accelerate their innovation. By tapping into NVIDIA’s AI capabilities, Freeform will be able to scale faster and continue to develop its groundbreaking approach to metal 3D printing.

The NVIDIA Inception program has backed several forward-thinking companies. Still, only a handful in the AM sector have made the cut, including ExLattice, nTop, Printpal.io, Make-Print, Orbital Composites, and Design Consulting. All of these businesses are looking at AI to transform the AM landscape by improving design, reducing print failures, and scaling production.

With the recent investments, Freeform is getting ready to scale its operations across multiple industries. The company plans to expand its portfolio of printable materials and ramp up production. By integrating AI, supercomputing, and real-time sensing, Freeform could create a factory architecture that learns and evolves with every print.