Fluent Metal takes a stab at the metal 3D printing market

To say that it’s rocky out in the metal 3D printing world may be a bit of an understatement. Almost a decade ago, Desktop Metal was one of the early darlings in accessible 3D printing in metal. The company raised almost half a billion in VC funding. Since then, the company has had a hell of a journey. Last year, Stratasys tried to merge with Desktop Metal in a $1.8 billion deal, but the deal fell through, and these days, Desktop Metal is worth less than $210 million.

Enter Peter Schmitt, the chief designer at Desktop Metal for the first half of that company’s life, who believes he has a better idea. In June 2020, he split off and started his own thing — Fluent Metal — which is taking a different technology path than Desktop Metal’s technology. There are no lasers here, and the company claims its technology is less wasteful and more efficient overall.

“Drop-on-demand technology is an elegant approach to create complex metal components,” said Peter Schmitt, CEO at Fluent Metal, in a statement to TechCrunch. “Whether it’s prototype iterations of an idea or production runs of a single part, Fluent Metal will provide customers with great operational and material flexibility. This freedom will unlock new creativity and problem solving abilities across industries.”

Fluent Metal has made a grand entrance from stealth mode, backed by an injection of venture capital funding. The company raised an additional $3.2 million led by E15 with participation from Pillar VC and industry angels, bringing the total funding to $5.5 million.

The company claims its technology unlocks high levels of efficiency, flexibility and customization, setting a new benchmark for what is possible in metal fabrication. It accomplishes this through liquid metal printing technology, which it hopes will set a new standard in additive manufacturing. At the core of this innovation is their proprietary drop-on-demand approach, a method that distinguishes itself by its high precision, adaptability and compatibility with a broad spectrum of metals. It precisely deposits molten metal, drop by drop, onto a substrate in a controlled manner. This allows for creating intricate metal parts with high levels of detail and structural integrity. Unlike traditional methods often involving complex procedures and significant material wastage, Fluent Metal claims its approach streamlines the manufacturing process, making it more straightforward, efficient and less resource-intensive.

What sets Fluent Metal apart is its broad compatibility with various metals. This versatility opens up a wide array of possibilities for industries ranging from aerospace to medical devices, where the properties of the material used are critical to the performance and reliability of the final product. It claims it can switch between different metals and adjust the printing parameters on the fly, enabling manufacturers to tailor their products to specific requirements without the need for extensive retooling or process adjustments.

The company pushes its sustainability messaging particularly hard, positioning itself as a greener alternative to conventional metal manufacturing processes.

“As the manufacturing industry evolves in response to the changing needs of global supply chains and sustainability demands, we need novel approaches to drive creativity and expand our collective conception about what’s possible,” said Philip Liang, managing partner, E15, in a statement to TechCrunch. “In the near term, Fluent Metal will spark the imagination of designers, engineers, and technologists to consider how rapid, on-demand production of custom metal parts could transform their capabilities. At scale, this approach will revolutionize the entire footprint and direction of industrial manufacturing.”

Definitely one to keep an eye on, as metal additive manufacturing processes continue to evolve.