MT Magazine March/April 2026

21

FEATURE STORY

MARCH/APRIL 2026

capital to production-scale AM companies. These investments also reinforced investor confidence in mature, application driven businesses aligned with strategic end markets, like aerospace and defense.

Other companies supporting production-scale applications continued to attract funding: Caracol, Fabric8Labs, and Carbon raised significant capital, reflecting investor willingness to back core platforms tied to identifiable production use cases. Materials Material investments followed a similar pattern. Although material investments declined YOY, companies such as Alloyed and Avimetal Powder Metallurgy secured funding for advanced alloy development and material qualification for aerospace and defense applications. Software Software investments remained smaller but continued to support automation, process monitoring, and digital workflow optimization. As demand grows for end-to-end ecosystems, digital twins, and AI-enabled process control, AM software has reemerged as a strategically important enabler of industrial adoption.

Additive Manufacturing Mergers and Acquisitions

The AM market continued to experience significant organizational restructuring and consolidation in 2025 as companies pursued acquisitions, partnerships, and rebranding initiatives to refine technology portfolios, expand global presence, and strengthen industrial capabilities. Additive related M&As increased 18% YOY, rising from 27 transactions in both 2023 and 2024 to 32 in 2025. Many of the year’s transactions reflected portfolio rationalization and targeted vertical integration rather than expansion into speculative new platforms and technologies. Notable M&As and partnerships included: • Stratasys acquired key assets from Nexa3D and Forward AM Technologies and invested in Tritone Technologies to expand into the metal AM market. • Sintokogio Group acquired Bosch Advanced Ceramics and rebranded the company as Sinto Advanced Ceramics Europe, with global expansion plans. • Arc Impact acquired Desktop Metal and select assets from ExOne. • Anzu Partners acquired EnvisionTec, ExOne, and Voxeljet, merging ExOne and Voxeljet into ExOne Global Holdings. • SprintRay acquired EnvisionTec’s dental assets. • Quantum acquired BCN3D. • American Axle & Manufacturing acquired GKN • The DUBAG Group acquired Trumpf’s additive manufacturing business and formed the new company Atlix. • Sodick acquired Prima Additive, and rebranded the company as AltForm. Automotive and GKN Powder Metallurgy. • Ametek acquired FARO Technologies.

Public and Private Investments In addition to venture capital, public market activity, private equity, and government funding played a significant role in AM’s capital growth in 2025. Notable public transactions and initial public offerings (IPOs) included Velo3D’s $17.5 million IPO on the Nasdaq, 6K Additive’s $31.8 million IPO on the ASX, Graphy’s $21 million IPO on the Kosdaq, and Amaero’s $32.3 million equity offering. Government funding and contract activity continued to support AM qualification and production scaling, particularly for defense-adjacent and domestic manufacturing priorities, through contracts awarded to companies such as IperionX, Velo3D, Continuous Composites, Firestorm Labs, Firehawk Aerospace, Nikon SLM Solutions, and 3D Systems. These awards reflected continued public sector interest in domestic reshoring, supply chain resilience, and enhanced production capacity. In parallel, growth equity and sector-focused investors, including the Stifel North Atlantic AM-Forward Fund, provided