Changes are taking place at Hubs since it was acquired by manufacturing service provider Protolabs (Nasdaq: PRLB). Not only has the subsidiary removed the “3D” from its name, but it has removed “3D Hubs” co-founder Bram de Zwart from his role as CEO. In his place will be Alex Cappy, a new Protolabs Vice President and CEO of Hubs. De Zwart will take on the position of Head of Innovation at Hubs.
“I’m excited to welcome Cappy to the Protolabs leadership team and congratulate her on her promotion to Vice President and CEO of Hubs. Cappy has played an instrumental role in Hubs success and I am confident that will continue with her expanded responsibilities,” said Rob Bodor, CEO of Protolabs. “I also want to thank Bram for his vision and leadership of Hubs over the past 8 years. It is remarkable what Hubs has become under his guidance, and I look forward to continuing to work with Bram in his new role.”
New Hubs CEO Alex Cappy. Image courtesy of Hubs.
Cappy joined Hubs in 2019 as the Chief Operations Office. Cappy has an extensive history in scaling startups, consulting with large businesses, and leading digital developments at major corporations. As a Digital Expert Associate Partner with McKinsey & Company, she collaborated with businesses, while at Gartner, she acted as a supply chain analyst. At Uber’s UK business, Cappy led the UKI Operations team during a period of rapid growth. Additionally, she was involved in the scaling of the British food delivery service Deliveroo and European bike-sharing program ofo.
“I am thrilled to take on this new role with Hubs, as we head into our next phase of growth as part of the Protolabs family. In my time with Hubs, I have been consistently impressed with the innovation and hustle our team has shown, and know it will enable us to continue to do great things. Now, paired with Protolabs, we are uniquely positioned to be the strongest player in the digital manufacturing space. I can’t wait to see what the future holds!” Cappy said of her new position.
Hubs has been an exciting firm to watch since it was founded eight years ago as a network for connecting mostly desktop 3D printers to customers globally. The platform quickly changed with the market, swapping out its community-driven, hobbyist service suppliers with industrial providers and adopting digital manufacturing technologies beyond 3D printing. Finally, it was purchased by Protolabs just this year.
Protolabs continues to grow rapidly, as well. In addition to the purchase of Hubs, the company is in the process of expanding its presence in Europe with an extended production facility in Germany. As Hubs becomes fully integrated into the Protolabs family, we’re sure to see new and likely unexpected changes continue to take place.