Velo3D announces 2021 financial results and board changes
March 3, 2022
Velo3D, Campbell, California, USA, has announced financial results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2021. Revenue for Q4 2021 was $10.4 million, a 20% increase from Q4 2020, while the fiscal year saw a rise of 45% in revenue to $27 million.
“Our performance reflects strong execution as we exceeded our fourth quarter and fiscal year 2021 revenue forecast, surpassed our bookings target and achieved a key strategic milestone as we shipped our first Sapphire XC system, which will be a significant driver of our growth in 2022,” stated Benny Buller, CEO of Velo3D. “Overall, 2021 was an important and successful year for Velo3D, and I’m enormously proud of everything we achieved. Customer demand for our industry-leading Sapphire systems remains high as we help some of the world’s most innovative companies create the future using our advanced Additive Manufacturing technology.”
The company shipped eight systems in the fourth quarter, including its first Sapphire XC system. For 2021, the company shipped a total of twenty-three systems (2020: thirteen), including shipments to ten new customers.
“In addition to shipping a record number of systems in the fourth quarter, our strong bookings reflected increasing demand across a number of verticals as we execute on our land and expand strategy,” Buller continued. ”For the year, shipments increased more than 75% and we continued to add new customers, including our first customer in Europe, which is a significant market opportunity we are looking to capitalise on this year.”
“We believe we remain well positioned to achieve our 2022 goals given our fourth quarter execution as well as the strong revenue visibility provided by our current backlog of twenty-three systems, including eighteen Sapphire XC systems. As a result, we are reiterating our previous 2022 revenue guidance of $89 million.”
Gross margin for the quarter was 16% and was said to primarily reflect the impact of launch customer price concessions for the company’s first Sapphire XC system shipped during the quarter. This pricing reduced the company’s gross margin for the fourth quarter by approximately 400 basis points, and is expected to impact gross margin through the third quarter of 2022 as the company completes the delivery of an additional nine Sapphire XC systems under its launch customer contract.
“Looking forward, we are excited about our long-term opportunities given our industry leading technology, continued execution on our growth plans and strong customer demand. Specifically for 2022, our strategic priorities will focus on expanding our new and existing customer footprint in both the U.S and Europe reflecting the increasing demand for our Sapphire XC system. Additionally, we will continue the buildout of our new manufacturing facility which will enable us to more than double annual shipments in 2022. Finally, we will remain focused on delivering the highest level of service possible to enable our customers to design and build the high value metal parts they need to succeed-without compromise,” added Buller.
Board changes
Velo3D has also announced changes to its board of directors, including the addition Ellen Pawlikowski, effective March 15. The size of the board will decrease from twelve to nine, following the planned resignation of Ricardo Angel, Jory Bell, David Cowan and Sven Strohband following the company’s listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
On the appointment, Buller stated, “The Velo3D team is focused on delivering real-world results and meeting the promises we’ve made to our customers, investors, partners, and employees, and Ellen’s track record shows she can help us meet our challenging goals to land and expand within critical industries and broaden the adoption of our Additive Manufacturing technology. We’re honoured to have Ellen join the board and her extensive experience working with innovators and leading organisations will help us capitalize on the blue-ocean opportunity ahead of us.”
Pawlikowski has a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and a BS in Chemical Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. She currently serves on the boards of Raytheon, SRI international, and Applied Research Associates. Before her retirement, Pawlikowski served in the US Air Force for thirty-six years, leaving as a four-star general.
“Velo3D is a critical tool to innovation in the aerospace, aviation, and defence industries and I strongly believe that its technology can be transformative to its customers,” added Pawlikowski. “While it’s amazing to see how Velo3D is empowering customers to solve their biggest challenges today, I think that its Additive Manufacturing technology will be even more impactful on innovation in the future.”
