3D printed supercar startup Divergent Technologies announced that it has successfully completed two new financing agreements, for a total of up to $80 million. This follows the Southern California-based company’s $160 million Series C investment round, announced in April of this year.
The financing comes from Horizon Technology Finance Corporation, and Bridge Bank, which is a division of Western Alliance Bank. Horizon, along with its financial adviser, Horizon Technology Finance Management LLC, have together loaned Divergent an initial sum of $20 million. The terms of Horizon’s deal with Divergent stipulate that the latter may receive up to $40 million in additional loans, contingent upon its hitting specific performance milestones. Bridge Bank, through its Technology Banking Group division, will be providing Divergent with a $20 million revolving line of credit.
In a press release, Divergent’s founder and CEO, Kevin Czinger, commented, “DAPS [Divergent Adaptive Production System] makes it possible for the first time for manufacturers to forego the capital-intensive static design system they have been accustomed to for over a century, and utilize a variable cost flexible design system that is significantly more efficient.” Mike Lederman, senior managing director of the Technology Banking Group at Bridge Bank, added, “Divergent is radically transforming auto manufacturing economics and environmental impact, and it is exciting to see Divergent delivers a solution that addresses system level challenges.”
In an article in which he interviewed Czinger back in March, 3DPrint.com’s editor-in-chief, Michael Molitch-Hou, wrote — about DAPS, specifically — “…Divergent is creating a microcosm of auto’s adoption of additive on the global market scale.” Along these lines, the present moment is an appropriate time for increased investment in, and financing of, Divergent. Additive manufacturing (AM) in the auto sector seems to be finally hitting its stride, and this is further evidence of that trajectory.
Moreover, in a fiscal environment wherein lines of credit generally seem to be tightening, we can take Divergent’s announcement as a sign concerning where the financial community sees realistic potential for ROI. This is especially exciting, considering how complex the DAPS system is. Revolving around a suite of six 12-laser metal 3D printers from SLM Solutions, the signature of the system is total automation from end-to-end.
Thus, this signals financial faith being shown not just in the AM sector, but, more broadly, in the technology’s ability to deliver wholly automated production lines. That has significance far beyond its implications for one company, as it is precisely what AM will have to display it can achieve, in order for the industry to scale up to the point where it is capable of handling mass production.