a-metal wins Venture Kick investment for its affordable metal Additive Manufacturing machine
May 5, 2023
Metal Additive Manufacturing machine developer, a-metal, based in Zurich, Switzerland, has been awarded CHF 150,000 (approx US$168,000) from the Swiss private investment fund Venture Kick to develop and market its small-scale, affordable metal AM machine. The startup’s patent-pending technology, which includes a cartridge system for safe powder handling, enables users to operate the machine without requiring a laboratory environment, making the machine accessible to a wider variety of users.
a-metal’s target customers are technology SMEs, small research groups in the automotive, aerospace, medical, dental, and tooling industries, as well as education and training institutions. With its pilot programme starting this year, the company is addressing the Swiss market before expanding its operations in the DACH region (Germany, Austria & Switzerland) and the US.
The co-founders include Stephan Steiner, who holds a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from ETH Zürich and has gained extensive industry and research experience in Additive Manufacturing, and Andreas Kuster, who has over ten years of expertise in automation, electronics, and AM and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Information Technology from University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW).
“The Venture Kick challenge provides not only a massive financial boost but also a real kick for our entire business development,” the co-founders stated. “Through the Kickers Camps, we learned to focus on and push forward relevant business activities, while winning the challenge generates very valuable credibility and visibility for both our startup and venture.”
The company announced that Florian Sercelj and Corsin Obrist have also joined the team as skilled mechanic and embedded software engineer respectively, with the aim of driving the product development towards a market-ready solution by the end of the year.
Download Metal AM magazine
