Dutch Startup Threeate is the Newest Online 3D Printing Marketplace

Whether you’re a professional maker or just a casual 3D printing enthusiast, you’re almost certainly familiar with Shapeways, which has become the go-to online maker platform and marketplace for just about everything you could think to 3D print. They’re certainly not the only online printing service, however, and more and more young companies are beginning to move in.

A Dutch startup by the name of Threeate has launched a new website, currently in open beta mode, that the company describes as a professional platform and one-stop marketplace for printable 3D models and products. They plan to have the site fully active shortly, and currently they are putting out a call for makers and designers who are interested in selling their work on the site.

As of December, the website will offer two options for buyers with their own printers. The single print option allows the buyer to select the 3D model that interests them, which will then be sent directly to their printer via Threeate’s Mac- and Windows-compatible streaming service. Only one print can be made from the model, unlike the download option, which, as its name suggests, allows the user to purchase and directly download the model to be printed as many times as the user chooses. For users who don’t own a 3D printer, there is the “print for me” option, which, like Shapeways, prints and ships the item to the customer.

Threeate also offers a prototyping/private printing service which allows the user to upload their designs and have them printed and shipped to them without anyone else in the marketplace being able to view the model. Currently, prints are available in rubber-like or plastic with SLA/SLS, and soon the company will be offering copper, stainless steel, aluminum and titanium. At the moment the company can only support MakerBots and clones, but they are working to add as many types of printers as possible, as soon as possible.

Threeate, whose name was created by combing “3D” and “create,” was founded in Amsterdam in January 2015 by Dennis de Vulder, Joeri Ras, Bart Hovens, Yoshua Mustamu, and Roel Wijte. The startup is currently self-funded by its founders, but they are looking for external investors.

Right now there are only a few models available for sale on the website (including a Celtic skull LED light holder that I already want), but judging from the wide range of categories listed, from jewelry to vehicle parts, we can soon expect a lot more. Want your work to be among the first to be featured by Threeate? Register and open your shop for free, upload your models and, once your work sells, 70% of your asking price will go directly to you. Interested shoppers, keep checking back, because once the marketplace is up and running, they will be shipping to anywhere in the world. Judging from the few items already for sale, it looks Threeate is going to be a pretty cool place to shop.

Discuss this story in the Threeate forum thread on 3DPB.com.