Type Private Number of employees 25 (Oct 2014) CEO Michael Armani (2014–) | Industry Digital printing Website printm3d.com Founded 2014 | |
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Key people David Jones (President)
Dr. Michael Armani (CEO) Headquarters Bethesda, Maryland, United States Founders David Jones, Michael Armani, Dr. Michael Armani | ||
M3D, LLC is an American manufacturer of 3D printers in Fulton, Maryland. The company's flagship product is the Micro 3D or Micro.
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The company was founded by David Jones and Michael Armani, natives of Maryland and both graduates of the University of Maryland, College Park. Armani has a Ph.D. in bioengineering and Jones has a computer science degree.
Startup
Financing leading up to launch of M3D was obtained by the founders through personal finances amounting to US$150,000. Subsequent funding for M3D was obtained through a Kickstarter campaign aimed at pre-sales of Micro units. The price point for the Micro was US$299 and the initial fundraising goal was US$50,000, which was reached 11 minutes after the campaign's launch; the campaign went on to raise a total of US$3,400,000 through pre-sale of 11,000 units.
In August 2016, M3D released a new 3D printer aimed at more experienced users named the M3D Pro. It ran on Kickstarter for 45 days until its conclusion on October 1, 2016 after raising over $450,000. As of the current time, it is not publicly available.
Consumer market
The company's business model is to address the consumer market with a low cost, small form, simple to program unit. According to one report, 56,000 personal 3D printers were shipped globally in 2012 and the market is expected to grow to close to 2 million units by 2018. The Micro was described in October 2014 as "one of the lowest-priced personal 3-D printers that you don't have to build yourself." The form of the unit is a 7-inch cube weighing 2 pounds. The initial Kickstarter price point of $299 has not been maintained, but increased to $349 by October 2014. This low cost was achieved through reduction of "power consumption by a factor of 10 compared to professional 3D printers", and the use of locally sourced, standardized electronics.
Operations
The company was founded in Bethesda, Maryland, but moved into new offices in Fulton, Maryland in late 2014.
As of October 2014, M3D employed 25 people, with plans to multiply that number within a year.
Manufacture of the Micro units takes place in a plant in Howard County, Maryland which opened in October 2014.
The company also produces 3D Ink (Filament) used in 3D printing, including color changing 3D Ink which responds to temperature.
Corporate governance
As of November 2014, co-founder David Jones held the post of president of M3D.