Materialise to acquire Link3D for US $33.5M
November 15, 2021
Materialise, an Additive Manufacturing solutions company headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, reports that it has agreed to exercise its previously announced option to acquire Link3D Inc., an additive workflow and digital manufacturing software company headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, USA. Subject to conditions, the transaction is expected to close by the end of the year. Materialise will acquire 100% of the Link3D equity interests for US $33.5 million.
Building on the success of its existing AM software suite, Materialise has outlined a cloud-based platform strategy: the Materialise software platform will offer companies cloud-based access to a continuously growing set of digital tools, enabling users to personalise and manage their AM processes and streamline their workflows. The acquisition of Link3D is expected to strengthen and accelerate the creation of the Materialise software platform, particularly for companies that are scaling up their AM operations to volume production.
“Materialise continues to lead the way in advancing the AM industry and this acquisition strengthens our position in the high-growth manufacturing market,” stated Fried Vancraen, CEO of Materialise. “As companies accelerate the adoption of Additive Manufacturing into increasingly digital production environments, they require a strong and unified AM software platform. Today’s announcement creates a merger of forces that serves as the foundation for such a scalable and sustainable platform.”
By integrating Link3D’s Manufacturing Execution System (MES) solution with the Materialise Magics software suite into a unified, cloud-based software platform, manufacturers are expected to be able to run and continuously improve processes to mass-produce identical or customised products. This process extends beyond the actual AM operations and creates a closer alignment between Additive Manufacturing and conventional manufacturing, signalling the removal of the wall between both production environments.
Stefaan Motte, VP and General Manager of Materialise Software, commented, “In recent years, we have carefully developed our platform strategy. By joining forces with Link3D, we can accelerate the realisation of this strategy, which will allow our customers to define and run the most optimal, efficient and sustainable production process. Not only for the production of one-offs, but, in particular, for scaling production in complex and distributed ecosystems.”
Vishal Singh, CTO and co-founder of Link3D, added, “It has always been our mission to help companies scale Additive Manufacturing and help them achieve their ROI goals. This is a landmark day for the AM industry. The combination of two innovation leaders committed to relentless pursuit of the promise of digital manufacturing.”
