Additive manufacturing takes on many forms. While we mostly cover FDM, SLS and SLA printing at 3DPrint.com, we also cover some other interesting disruptive technologies. The Squink is a multilayer PCB printer that prints conductive traces on circuit boards and other materials, such as Kapton, FR4, ceramics and metal with their ‘Advanced Ink.’ The machine also uses a pick-and-place system with computer vision to accurately place components on the PCB. BotFactory, the New York-based manufacturer of the Squink, recently announced that they have completed a $1M seed round of financing.
This seed round closes on the second anniversary of BotFactory’s successful $100,000 Kickstarter campaign, and a little more than a year since BotFactory began shipping out their Squink PCB Printer. According to BotFactory, the Squink is the only product on the market that is capable of creating a fully functional PCB from start to finish in a complete, integrated package. Amongst their user base BotFactory counts a number of Fortune 500 companies, Ivy-League universities and research labs who use Squink to reduce their PCB design cycle time and bolster their innovation and product development efforts.
The Squink uses 3 interchangeable heads and a pick-and-place system to create PCBs.
“We’re just starting to scratch the surface of what is a huge problem for an electronics industry that is only growing faster, driven by new developments like the Internet of Things,” says Bot Factory CEO Nicolas Vansnick. “Everyone is trying to lower the cost of fabricating one-offs in factories designed to make millions, when we’re miniaturizing that factory and bringing it closer to where it is needed: on the engineer’s desk.”
New York Angels, one of the largest angel Investor groups in the world, led the investment round, putting fresh capital towards expanding sales and marketing efforts as well as product development. New York Angels injects capital into early-stage to mid-stage companies in the New York area like Canary and GoTenna. New York Angels Director Larry Richenstein will join BotFactory’s Board of Directors.
According to BotFactory, Squink is the only product on the market that is capable of creating a fully functional PCB from start to finish in a complete, integrated package.
Key features of BotFactory Squink Multilayer PCB Printer:
- Print multilayer PCBs on flexible or rigid substrates like Kapton and FR4
- Print any smooth, non-porous materials capable of retaining its shape at 110°C
- Dispense solder and conductive glues onto any PCB design – even ones made by other outside vendors
- Pick-and-place parts as small as 0603s or QFNs at a rate of 4 parts per minute
- Intuitive Software – upload GERBER as well as Image files of PCB designs using a browser as the key interface
- Plug-and-Play – no assembly required. No downloading either – entire software package is on each Squink
I’ve been following Squink for quite some time and I have to say that it’s a pretty unique machine. It’ll be very interesting to see if this new financing will lead to greater sales and new innovative products.
