Formlabs is a
3D printing
3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer ...
technology developer and manufacturer. The
Somerville, Massachusetts-based company was founded in September 2011 by three
MIT Media Lab
The MIT Media Lab is a research laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, growing out of MIT's Architecture Machine Group in the MIT School of Architecture and Planning, School of Architecture. Its research does not restrict to fi ...
students. The company develops and manufactures 3D printers and related software and consumables. It raised nearly $3 million in a
Kickstarter
Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...
campaign and created the Form 1, Form 1+, Form 2, Form Cell, Form 3, Form 3L, Form 4, Form 4L, Form Auto, Fuse 1, and Fuse 1+
stereolithography and
selective laser sintering
Selective laser sintering (SLS) is an additive manufacturing (AM) technique that uses a laser as the power and heat source to sinter powdered material (typically nylon or polyamide), aiming the laser automatically at points in space defined ...
3D printers and accessories.
History
Formlabs was founded by Maxim Lobovsky, Natan Linder, and David Cranor, who met as students at the
MIT Media Lab
The MIT Media Lab is a research laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, growing out of MIT's Architecture Machine Group in the MIT School of Architecture and Planning, School of Architecture. Its research does not restrict to fi ...
while taking a class called "How to Make (almost) Anything". The founders also drew on their experience with
MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms
The Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA) was established in 2001 in the MIT Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is currently run by Neil Gershenfeld. This cross-disciplinary center broadly looks at the intersection of information ...
Fab Lab program, as well as Lobovsky's experience with the
Fab@Home project at
Cornell University
Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
.
Formlabs was officially founded in September 2011 to develop the first desktop-sized, easy-to-use, and affordable
stereolithography 3D printer. Formlabs received early seed funding from investors including
Mitch Kapor
Mitchell David Kapor ( ; born November 1, 1950) is an American entrepreneur best known for his work as an application developer in the early days of the personal computer software industry, later founding Lotus Software, Lotus, where he was instr ...
,
Joi Ito, and
Eric Schmidt
Eric Emerson Schmidt (born April 27, 1955) is an American businessman and former computer engineer who was the chief executive officer of Google from 2001 to 2011 and the company's chairman, executive chairman from 2011 to 2015. He also was the ...
’s Innovation Endeavors.
In November 2012, Formlabs was sued by the industrial 3D printing giant
3D Systems that claimed rights to the
stereolithography technology that the Form 1 uses. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2014, after the two parties settled.
In October 2013, Formlabs closed an additional $19 million Series A round of financing led by
DFJ Growth, joined by
Pitango Venture Capital, Innovation Endeavors, and returning angel investors.
In 2015, Formlabs opened their second office in Berlin, Germany. In August 2015, Michael Sorkin, former co-founder of iGo3D, joined Formlabs to serve as the managing director of their European headquarters.
In August 2016, Formlabs raised $35 million in series B funding led by
Foundry Group.
In April 2018, Formlabs raised $30 million in series C funding led by
Tyche Partners, with investors including the municipally owned
Shenzhen Capital Group. The company said it would use the funding to expand its product portfolio and scale operations to meet increasing customer demand, particularly from Asia.
In August 2018, Formlabs raised $15 million from
New Enterprise Associates
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) is an American-based venture capital firm. NEA focuses investment stages ranging from seed stage through growth stage across an array of industry sectors. With over $25 billion in committed capital, NEA is one of t ...
, valuing the company at over $1B. As part of that fundraising round,
Jeff Immelt was appointed to the company's board of directors.
In May of 2021, Formlabs raised a $150 million Series E round from the
Softbank Vision Fund 2, bringing the valuation to $2B.
In September of 2024,
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...
utilized Formlabs 3D printers to prototype various components for its upcoming Electric Explorer SUV.
Products
Form 1
In October 2012, Formlabs publicly announced its first product, the Form 1 3D printer, in a Kickstarter campaign that raised a record-breaking $2.95 million in funding making the Form 1 one of the
most highly funded crowdfunding projects up until that time. Form 1 3D printers began shipping to backers in May 2013 after months of delayed production. The Form 1 used a 3D printing process known as
stereolithography, wherein liquid resin is cured, or hardened, into a solid material by the application of laser light. Although previously available in larger, more expensive machines, the Form 1 offered stereolithography in a smaller, more affordable desktop-class device.
Form 1+
On June 10, 2014, Formlabs released the Form 1+ 3D Printer, which replaced the Form 1 in their product line. Improvements included speed, print quality, and reliability. The Form 1+ was officially sunsetted March 15, 2017.
Form 2
On September 22, 2015, Formlabs announced the Form 2 printer, including a larger build volume and a wiper. It also switches to a cartridge resin system, instead of bottles that needed to be manually poured into the Form 1 & Form 1+. Third-party resins can be used with Open Mode. The Form 2 was named Best Resin Printer for 2019 by Tom's Guide in their annual rankings. The Form 2 is scheduled to be officially sunsetted in 2023.
Form Wash and Form Cure
On May 5, 2017, Formlabs announced the Form Wash and the Form Cure. Together with the Form 2, they complete the SLA engine. The Form Wash is a washing machine used to automatically clean liquid resin off of printed 3D models. The Form Cure is an
ultraviolet
Ultraviolet radiation, also known as simply UV, is electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths of 10–400 nanometers, shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight and constitutes about 10% of ...
postcuring system. After printing, the build platform on the Form 2 can be removed and installed on the Form Wash, which uses an impeller to agitate 3D printed parts in
isopropyl alcohol
Isopropyl alcohol (IUPAC name propan-2-ol and also called isopropanol or 2-propanol) is a colorless, flammable, organic compound with a pungent alcoholic odor.
Isopropyl alcohol, an organic polar molecule, is miscible in water, ethanol, an ...
. The Form Cure heats parts up to 80 degrees Celsius and uses thirteen 405 nanometer UV LEDs.
Fuse 1
On June 5, 2017, Formlabs announced the Fuse 1, a
selective laser sintering
Selective laser sintering (SLS) is an additive manufacturing (AM) technique that uses a laser as the power and heat source to sinter powdered material (typically nylon or polyamide), aiming the laser automatically at points in space defined ...
3D printer. It has a much larger build volume than the Form line of printers, a removable build chamber, and uses
nylon
Nylon is a family of synthetic polymers characterised by amide linkages, typically connecting aliphatic or Polyamide#Classification, semi-aromatic groups.
Nylons are generally brownish in color and can possess a soft texture, with some varieti ...
powder.
Form 3, Form 3B, Form 3L and Form 3BL
On April 2, 2019, Formlabs announced the 4th Generation of their SLA printers, the Form 3 and Form 3L, designed for use by artists, designers, and other professionals. The Form 3 offers a larger print area than the Form 2 as well as Low Force Stereolithography (LFS), a new SLA technology developed by Formlabs that promises smoother surface finish and more detailed prints. The Form 3L utilizes the same optics engine as the Form 3, including LFS, with five times the build volume. Additional improvements include an upgraded optics engine, modular components to simplify repair and integrated sensors to improve print success and usability. This earned it the title of Best Resin Printer of 2019 by The Mediahq.
On November 12, 2019, Formlabs launched the Form 3B, a variant of the Form 3 specially designed for the dental industry. Unlike the Form 3, the Form 3B is compatible with Formlabs' array of specialty dental materials. The only exception is Form 3 printers designated "Early 2019" which retain the dental material capabilities from its initial release.
In 2020, the company launched Form 3BL, which features the larger platform of the Form 3L, along with the material capabilities of the Form 3B.
In 2022 at CES, the company announced the Form 3+ and Form 3B+ which are updated versions of the Form 3/3B with improved LPU/Laser stability, better heating and monitoring of the build chamber, true light touch supports, and the new build platform 2, which uses a flexible stainless steel sheet held with magnets to a base in order to make removing the parts from the build plate faster and easier than the original build platform the first shipped with the Form 2.
Form Cell
On June 5, 2017, Formlabs announced the Form Cell, a cell of Form 2 3D printers, as well as a Form Wash and a robotic gantry system. It is completely automated and can be used as a 24-hour digital "factory".
PreForm
Formlabs provides a free software package called PreForm, designed to prepare 3D models for printing on the Form 1, Form 1+, Form 2, Form 3, and Fuse 1. Some of the features of PreForm include automatic model orientation and support structure generation.
Nasopharyngeal Swabs
As the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
took off in March 2020, Formlabs, working with,
Northwell Health and the
University of South Florida
The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...
developed a 3D printed
nasopharyngeal swab made from biocompatible resins. After receiving FDA Class I Exempt status, Formlabs quickly went into production; its printing facility in
Ohio
Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
was initially able to produce 150,000 swabs daily, and the design was released so that hospitals with their own printers can make swabs. Northwell and the University of South Florida were each immediately able produce 1,500 swabs daily with printers they already had.
Form Auto
In January of 2023 at
CES, Formlabs announced the successor to its Form Cell program by introducing the Form Auto. The Form Auto automates the Form 3 printer and enables users to remotely open the cover, start prints, and clear parts off the build platform.
Form 4 and Form 4B
On April 17th, 2024, Formlabs announced its fourth generation printer the Form 4. This is the first Formlabs printer to use a LCD screen as opposed to lasers used in the first three generations of machines.
Formlabs also announced the Form 4B for the dentistry and medical industries. The Form 4B is utilizes their Low Force Display (LFD) technology that uses a custom LCD and 17 other optical components, a patent pending release texture, and a composite film tank to increase print speed without sacrificing quality or reliability.
Form 4L
On October 17, 2024, Formlabs unveiled the Form 4L, its latest large-format SLA printer. This model is notable for being the first to utilize an LCD screen instead of lasers, enhancing printing speed and efficiency. The Form 4L also features a developer platform that allows users to customize materials and workflows for specific applications.
Documentary
Formlabs is featured in ''
Print the Legend'',
a documentary that tells the stories of several leading companies in the desktop 3D printer industry. The film premiered at
SXSW
South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...
in March 2014, and was released internationally on
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
on September 26, 2014.
See also
*
List of 3D printer manufacturers
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://formlabs.com/
Companies based in Massachusetts
Electronics companies established in 2011
Computer output devices
Electronics companies of the United States
Robotics companies of the United States
3D printer companies
2011 establishments in Massachusetts
American companies established in 2011