Company News

Berlin Tech Startup BigRep Successfully Closes Series A Financing Round with over €7 Million and Continues Rapid Growth

  • Koehler Invest GmbH and venture capital firm b-to-v join as new investors

  • BigRep is one of Germany’s fastest growing hardware startups

  • BigRep is investing new capital in research and development, expanding its global market leadership, internationalizing and strengthening distribution

Berlin, November 11, 2015. BigRep, developer and manufacturer of the world’s largest serially produced 3D printer, has successfully closed a Series A financing round. The family-run Koehler Paper Group and venture capital firm b-to-v will join existing shareholders such as KFW-Bankengruppe and its ERP-Startfonds, to invest over €7 Million in BigRep GmbH. “We are thrilled to have found further investors with Koehler and b-to-v who appreciate the capacities of our large-scale serial 3D printing solutions and share our vision: as the 21st century’s key industry, 3D printing will substantially change global supply chains and production processes. We will use this fresh capital to further our product development, expand our global market presence, and to internationalize and strengthen our distribution,“ says BigRep CEO René Gurka.

The Koehler Paper Group has been investing in new technologies increasingly via financial involvement with startups in recent years. The industrial enterprise, family-run for eight generations, also plans to participate in the growing market for 3D printing. “We have thoroughly studied the market for 3D printing and are positive that BigRep is one of the best positioned providers in the rapidly growing segment for industrial clients,” Koehler Paper Group CEO Kai Furler states.
With offices in St. Gallen and Berlin, venture capital firm b-to-v is one of the leading networks for entrepreneurial private investors in Europe. Dr. Christian Reitberger, Lead Investor at b-to-v, was previously involved in BigRep’s seed funding as a Business Angel: “BigRep’s aim is to reduce the entry barriers for industrial 3D printing through lower operating costs, establishing a coherent software environment, and smart filament material innovations. BigRep will access new customer groups for additive manufacturing and provide industry insiders with a wider applicability in everyday use, too“.

A Rapidly Growing Market
The market for professional 3D printing has been growing rapidly: the annual growth rate is expected to increase by approx. 20 percent by 2020. Wohlers Report, the industry’s preeminent source, estimated the worldwide market for 3D

printing was worth over US$5 billion in 2015. The competition is relatively small in the segment for large-scale serial 3D printing, particularly cost-efficient 3D printing solutions. This is not the only field where BigRep has succeeded in establishing global market leadership in just 18 months. Thanks to its unique printing volume of over 1m3, which allows for prints 27 times the size provided by customary appliances, as well as its integrated software solutions, the BigRep ONE, which is available already in its third generation, also sets the industry’s technological standard.

About b-to-v:
b-to-v Partners AG is a venture capital company with offices in St. Gallen and Berlin. With around 200 members, it is also one of Europe’s leading networks of private entrepreneurial investors. b-to-v combines the industry expertise and experience of its entrepreneurs with the longstanding venture capital expertise of its in-house team. With this investment approach, b-to-v has set itself the goal of generating sustainable added value for its portfolio companies and investing entrepreneurs. At core, the b-to-v philosophy is all about investing together and a desire to mutually benefit from the financial, content-based and personal support provided from entrepreneur to entrepreneur. So far, b-to-v has invested in Facebook, Xing, Linguee, Qype, and Finanzchec, among others.

About KfW Bankengruppe:
The KfW Group finances and supports, among other things, business startups, small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) as well as investments in economic growth and employment projects in Germany. The ERP Start-up-Fund, administered and co-financed by KfW, offers equity financing for innovative, technology-based enterprises with excellent growth prospects. The fund finances research and product development as well as the launching of new products, procedures and services. KfW always cooperates with a lead investor and exclusively adopts market conditions. Since 2004, the ERP Start-up-Fund has had €720 Mio. at its disposal to support emerging technology-based companies.

BigRep goes gold: German Design Award 2016

A jury of more than 30 experts specializing in various fields of design has decided: BigRep is honored with the German Design Award 2016 for its outstanding achievement in product design. We received the first prize for our success model BigRep ONE.2 and feel honored to top the list of winners in the category “Workshop and Tools”.
The German Design Award is awarded annually by the German Design Council, one of the world’s leading centres of expertise for communication and branding in design. Since 2012 it has been honoring outstanding achievements in product and communication design with the international premium prize. This year, the design contest saw 3,400 submissions in 42 categories and thirty three percent of the submissions came from outside Germany.
“Receiving the German Design Award is a great success for us! We pay great attention to detail in the construction of our 3D printers including their design. This award shows us that functionality and appealing design do not have to exclude one another in industrial production.”
René Gurka, CEO

BigRep and NOWlab

As part of our dedication for design and innovation BigRep has presented at the 3D PRINTSHOW in Berlin the first artist collaboration with NOWlab architects Daniel Büning and Jörg Petri. The project is one of many collaboration with artists, architects and designers that BigRep is developing this year.

The original design is called the „ATLAS” Stool, it is the consequence of a deep admiration of the natural forces that shape the tectonics of mountain chains and their respective valleys and mountain peaks.

In an additive process material is added over time in a layer by layer manner, resulting in different height plateaus that can consist out of multiple matter. Therefore a cross-section of those topographic textures reveals the stratification (layered arrangement) of different materials over time.
The design process of the ATLAS stool is therefore under the explicit consideration and awareness of the above described geological phenomena. The typical layering procedure of the additive manufacturing process is here utilized in combination with a set of different materials to accentuate and underline the distinctiveness of the stools bottom view.

In this design case the typical characteristic of the FFF-manufacturing technology is therefore directly in cooperated into the design philosophy of the piece and underlines the uniqueness of its resulting silhouette.

BigRep teams up with Autodesk’s Spark

For us, the New Year started in Las Vegas. There, on 6 January, the Consumer Electronics Show CES in Las Vegas opened the doors. CES is not only a showcase for gadgets of every kind, from autonomous vehicles to wearable electronics. It´s also increasingly important for 3D printing. We took the opportunity to announce our next important step: BigRep is teaming up with Autodesk´s Spark, an open 3D-printing platform.

Spark is a complete, open and free platform for 3D printing that will connect digital information to 3D printers in a new way. It´s objectives are improving information exchange between design software and the printer, optimizing design before production begins and providing open APIs for a broad group of users to access and innovate the 3D printing pipeline.

We at BigRep are absolutely convinced, that simple 3D-printing just won´t be enough in the near future. Instead, we´ll need a complete ecosystem consisting of full scale printers and a cloud-printing service. Not for much longer, BigRep will be connecting thousands of printers globally enabling truly distributed manufacturing and innovative printable materials for industrial and professional use. Adopting Spark is a first but important step for us to realize this vision.

Production ramping up

The production started for the BigRep ONE

This summer we moved to our new premises in Berlin-Kreuzberg. At the beginning the spacey loft was empty but quickly it filled up with our fast growing team, and now it is packed with printers, because the production of our brand new model BigRep ONE.2 is in full swing. These days transport boxes are lining up in our premises in Kreuzberg, waiting to be packed with printers and then shipped to our customers all over the world. At this very moment, we are shipping printers to universities, world known software companies, mold makers, foundries, service providers, designers, artists and diverse users in the field of rapid prototyping in Europe, the USA and Asia.

On the road again … to EuroMold2014

At EuroMold2014 from 25-28 November in Frankfurt we presented our updated serial model, the BigRep ONE.2. Prototypes, models or molds as well as products for end users like designer furniture can be printed out directly due to the giant printing volume of 1,3m³. As a proof of our concept we brought a real case study for manufacturing with us to Frankfurt: BigRep ONE.2 printed full-scale molds for glass blowing in a size of 40 x 60 cm. With these molds, a glassmaking factory produced full-size glass cups.

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The sale is on

What´s the use of the best 3D printer in the world, if you can´t buy it? At BigRep we have been literally overwhelmed by the huge interest in our giant printers from the beginning. Now, the first printers have been shipped, production is ramping up and we have established a worldwide resellers network which is growing every month. In September, we hosted our first BigRep global resellers meeting. Here´s the list of our partners (in alphabetical order): China, Czech Republic, France, Israel, Italy, India, Jordan, Lithuania, UK, United Arab Emirates and Russia. This only for the time being, our resellers is growing by every month. So, if you are interested in buying one of our printers (sure you are!), you should have a look here from time to time. You´ll find all the updated contact details by contacting us here. Or send us an e-mail and we will route you to the next BigRep dealer.

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The man who prints houses visits BigRep

René Gurka meets the guy who 3D printed houses

We at BigRep are used to think in large scales. Our printers have a printing volume of up to 1,5 cubic meters (53 cubic feet) and they are the largest serial 3D printers on the market at the moment. But this Italian Gentleman, who popped in at our booth at 3D Printshow in London today is a real giant. He was the first to build a working 3D printer for printing buildings and became world famous as “The Man Who Prints Houses’.

Dini spent a fortune on the development of his machine and the promotion of his ideas. He even ruined his privat life, but he is still going on. Two years ago, Dini developed the “Moebius House”. The house has the shape of a Moebius strip and is made up of printed elements. And Dini is even printing houses for fish! He printed an artificial coral reef, which is being tested in Bahrain. The elements serve as breakwaters, but their complex organic shapes also offers protection to fish and other sea creatures.

Dini´s visit was a great inspiration for us. We can learn a whole lot from this brilliant visionary. And on thing is for sure: Think big and never give up!

Resellers from all over the world at BigRep HQ

BigRep's reseller

The pace is high at BigRep. We barely had unpacked our stuff from moving into our new, 1000 square meters loft in Berlin-Kreuzberg, when last week our Resellers from all over the world flew in for the first BigRep global resellers meeting. Our partners come from UK, France, Israel, Russia, Lithuania, China and India. During two Days we discussed technical features, customer´s support, trade shows and pricing. And had fun eating giant Wiener Schnitzels at “Austria”, a famous Austrian Restaurant two blocks from our premises. We are looking forward to working with you guys and building a strong network for seamless customer support.

Now we pack again and head for 3D Printshow in London from September 4th to 6th. We are nominated there as “Business Newcomer of the Year”. You can vote for us here: http://3dprintshow.com/global-awards/best-business-newcomer/

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