We publish here a LinkedIn post by Additive Manufacturing expert Alex Kingsbury.
We consider it valuable to get a picture of the current state of investments in AM.
Let’s talk about how capital flowing into the additive market today is reshaping the AM business and technology landscape.
It’s been a year of big raises, strategic acquisitions, and shifting investor appetites, which made it great timing to sit down with my superstar panelists Stephen Butkow and Rajeev Kulkarni 🌟 for the ‘M&A and Capital Markets’ panel this year at the Additive Manufacturing Strategies conference in New York 🗽
Here were some of our big themes:
💡 The shift towards supplying printing services rather than printers. Headline financings from Divergent, VulcanForms and Freeform to name a few, in the last year demonstrate that capital is flowing to digital manufacturers. Can we expect this new capital to spur on the next wave of M&A? Where does this leave hardware OEMs seeking credible public narratives?
💡 Defense as a tailwind for investor interest in additive and biggest driver of growth and valuations today, but that doesn’t mean opportunities for everyone. You need enough capital to see out the defense prototyping spiral, and you also have to have mastered your niche. Simply printing parts isn’t enough – you need to offer a solution.
💡 Is M&A the only way for new entrants to get their ‘in’ into the seemingly lucrative AM solutions businesses? How are we seeing the M&A thesis of old (the portfolio approach) shift towards M&A for market access and vertical integration?
💡 Now more than ever, European companies are attracting European funding and US companies are attracting US funding. Are we entering an era where additive manufacturing ecosystems become regionally siloed? What does this mean for companies that need global scale to compete?
💡 And what about the intense competitive pressure from China? Is there an opportunity here for western companies to take advantage to China’s cost structure? Will our competitive advantage to come from AI, automation and robotics kick off the next wave of productivity? To what level, if any, is this risk priced in already?
I sincerely appreciate the depth and honesty that Stephen and Rajeev bought to the panel. These kinds of conversations help us collectively navigate an increasingly competitive and complex global landscape.
Fellow panelists Danny Piper and Arno Held held back by blizzard-related travel delays were definitely there in spirit, and I appreciated their time helping to prepare for the panel 🙏
A shout out to Incodema3D, LLC for its sale to AFM Partners – an announcement that just missed the AMS deadline, but an important one that continues to support the growing M&A trend that we are seeing in the market!
And finally, to the moderators Joris Peels and Peter Rogers, and organizers John Meckler, Jeff Hazen, Missy Wade and many others, commensurate professionals that they are, that handled constant agenda changes with complete ease. Thanks for putting on a great show in the middle of an NYC winter! ❄️