Immensa Lands $20M Funding Round for 3D Printing Digital Inventory Suite in MENA

In an impressive stride forward, United Arab Emirates (UAE) 3D printing business Immensa has recently secured $20 million in Series B funding. This latest round sets the stage for its expansion beyond the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Led by the MENA-focused venture capital (VC) firm Global Ventures, the funding round includes contributions from new backers like New York co-investment fund Endeavor Catalyst Fund and the Engineering and Development Group (EDGO) and continued support from existing investors such as Bahrain private equity firm Energy Capital Group, MENA tech investors Shorooq Partners, and Dubai VC firm Green Coast Investments.

Funding Breakdown

This funding raises Immensa’s total capital to $31.5 million, marking a significant leap from its previous rounds. The company’s financial journey began with a pre-seed round in 2016, where it raised $2 million, laying the groundwork for its initial development in additive manufacturing. Two years later, in 2018, the company secured $2.5 million in a seed funding round, allowing it to further advance its technology and expand its team.

The next significant milestone was the Series A round in November 2021, led by Energy Capital Group, where Immensa raised $7 million. This investment was crucial in scaling up the company’s operations, enhancing its technological capabilities, and initiating its expansion into new markets. Each funding round has been key, progressively building Immensa’s capabilities and expanding its market reach, with the latest Series B round representing a substantial escalation in investor confidence and financial backing.

Digital manufacturing

Immensa claims it’s changing the traditional concept of supply chains. By leveraging additive manufacturing, it’s shifting from physical to digital warehousing. The primary focus is on creating digital solutions for warehousing and manufacturing parts on demand, particularly for the energy sector. Its main product is a digital warehousing solution that stores designs of spare parts in a digital format, ready to be 3D printed whenever needed. As we have seen repeatedly, this approach eliminates the need for physical storage of these parts, drastically reducing space and inventory costs.

Moreover, Immensa produces a variety of spare parts for other industries such as oil and gas, industrial, and utilities. Its technology suite also includes proprietary software and AI tools that optimize the design and manufacturing process. This suite ensures that the parts produced are both high-quality, cost-effective, and bespoke. This shift promises multiple benefits, including financial savings, operational efficiencies, and environmental advantages. With an annual loss of around $30 billion faced by energy companies due to inefficiencies in traditional supply chains, Immensa’s approach shouldn’t be overlooked.

Support and vision

Global Ventures has expressed strong confidence in Immensa’s power of supply chain technology. In a LinkedIn post, the firm said, “As MENA’s largest additive manufacturing and digital warehousing solution, the company’s business model aligns with our own thesis on supply chain technology’s power to decentralize, disintermediate and bring greater efficiency to supply networks, starting from manufacturing. Immensa’s technology suite shortens the distance between production and consumption, unlocking a host of efficiency gains while also being an inherently more sustainable solution. We are excited to partner with Fahmi Al-Shawwa [CEO], Sary Diab [COO], and the rest of the team as they build the largest digital assets warehouse, and convinced they are best placed to capture this considerable opportunity in MENA and globally.”

Immensa plans to use this investment to transition from a regional powerhouse to a global contender. The focus will be on bolstering operations in Saudi Arabia and the UAE while also exploring market entries into at least two additional regional countries in the short term, including possibly Oman. The company, which already serves countries like Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Jordan, wishes to enter the North American market in the next twelve to eighteen months and is also considering opportunities in Southeast Asia.

Ambitious Road Ahead

At the heart of Immensa’s services is its digital warehousing solution, which is enabled by a global manufacturing-as-a-service network. This approach allows for on-demand parts production, significantly reducing the need for physical storage. The company boasts a specialized team with expertise across various sectors, ensuring top-tier solutions for its clients.

Since its last funding round in 2021, Immensa has made significant strides, including attracting top executives and launching an advanced manufacturing center in Saudi Arabia. The company aims to digitize one million energy spare parts by 2027, a move that could significantly reduce the total cost of ownership of spare parts by up to 50%. With a firm foundation in the MENA region and eyes set on global expansion, Immensa is eager to continue its journey in the digital manufacturing solutions arena.