An Amsterdam-based online manufacturing platform, 3D Hubs provides engineers with on-demand access to a global network of manufacturing facilities. The company lets users easily upload their design, receive a quote, and start production at a single click of a button.
Backed by Tony Fadell!
Founded in 2013 by Bram de Zwart, Brian Garret, and Filemon Schoffer in Amsterdam, the online manufacturing platform, 3D Hubs raised over $20 million (nearly €18 million) this summer. And, it is focusing on its European expansion by entering the French market. This has been possible for the company with the backing of Future Shape, a Paris-based investment firm headed by Tony Fadell, the legendary iPod inventor and Nest founder.
Well, 3D Hubs aims to provide French engineers with virtually unlimited production capacity from a global supplier network. Notably, the company works with over 35,000 businesses across the world including 27% of Fortune 500 companies to manufacture their parts.
Overcomes a major issue
In the current scenario, hardware-driven industries are growing at a rapid pace, thanks to the predicted growth of the IoT sector. In the developed countries, manufacturing is struggling to keep up due to the rise of innovative products and companies, which makes sourcing of parts tough for engineers.
As most European countries face such issues, French engineers still use the traditional manufacturing supply, which gives rise to scalability, efficiency, and pricing concerns. And, 3D Hubs is here to address this challenge.
What this Dutch startup does is provide engineers with access to on-demand production capacity from a global network of manufacturing partners. With this platform, users can upload their designs, receive quotes and enter production in a single click. Already, ABB, Toyota, and NASA have made the platform an integrated part of their sourcing process for both rapid prototyping and low-volume production runs.
Aspires big for 2020!
With its launch in Paris, 3D Hubs is positioned as a company that can transform manufacturing in France (Europe on the whole). The company aims to produce 4 million parts for European companies by the end of 2020. With its manufacturing platform, French engineers can securely source custom parts online, which will reduce both lead time and cost as there is no need to deal with manufacturing queues anymore.
In addition to strengthening startups and businesses in France, it also modernises manufacturing opportunities across the country, which is Europe’s third-largest manufacturing economy.
Main image picture credits: 3D Hubs
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