3D Hubs: Expanding into France, Backing from Tony Fadell’s Future Shape

December 4, 2019 by Bridget O'Neal 3D Printing

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3D Hubs is known around the world as a unique platform, with its origins deeply rooted in the 3D printing community. Today, they have moved away from their original model serving individuals and makers to accommodate professional 3D printing production more heavily; however, the Amsterdam-headquartered online manufacturing platform continues to expand.

In a recent press release sent to 3DPrint.com, the 3D Hubs team explains that as they continue offering more services in Europe, they are now opening new offices in Paris with the hope to gain more business in France overall. This move comes on the heels of a $20 million investment round earlier in 2019, and specific backing from Future Shape, the investment firm headed by Tony Fadell (also known as inventor of the iPod, co-inventor of the iPhone, and founder of smart home automation company, Nest).

The 3D Hubs team points out that they are now producing 3D printed parts for over 35,000 business—27 percent of which are Fortune 500 companies. Upon entering the manufacturing sector in France, 3D Hubs hopes to help many businesses and their engineers transition to more progressive fabrication techniques, enjoying all the classic benefits of 3D printing and AM processes, to include greater affordability, efficiency in production, and continued scalability.

France is turning out to be quite the battleground for 3D printing services, with BASF investing in French service Sculpteo recently. Services are now truly going global and we’re going to see more of a “winner takes all” plays taking place with services vying to be the largest at all costs. This should mean good deals for clients but may make it difficult for some smaller local services to compete with investor fueled strategies.

As the 3D printing platform continues to transform also with a newer strategy targeting industrial and professional businesses, they hope to ‘transform manufacturing in France and all of Europe.’ Their ultimate goal is to 3D print four million parts for companies Europe—and all before the end of next year.

“3D Hubs would have been an essential resource when we were building the iPod, the iPhone, and Nest. Instead of waiting weeks to get back models & prototypes, now with 3D Hubs’ crucial online prototyping and manufacturing platform, engineers and designers can turn ideas into objects in only a few days, with precision 3D printed, CNC’d, or injection molded parts, and even move straight into volume manufacturing,” said Tony Fadell, expecting 3D Hubs to be a big hit in France.

Previously also allowing individuals to operate thousands of peer-to-peer networks, 3D Hubs has been known as a force within the 3D printing realm to makers globally—and we have reported on their progress and news whether they were offering grants to students or highlighting innovative work. Not only announcing an altogether new strategy for doing business, we also recently saw 3D Hubs announcing massive funding, with plans to open an office in the US. 3D Hubs has also expanded their quarterly trends report.