Amsterdam-based 3D Hubs, the online marketplace for 3D printing services, has acquired Romanian startup Printivate – which lets you optimize and fix 3D models. 3D Hubs will integrate Printivate in its platform to improve 3D file handling and printability prediction.
Financial details were not disclosed.
Adrian Muresan, CEO and founder of Printivate, will join the 3D Hubs team as R&D lead at the Amsterdam office.
Efficiency
The acquisition means a boost in efficiency for the 3D printing platform. When going from a digital model to a physical 3D printed object many complex calculations take place that are relevant for the printability and quality of the final product.
As you might have found out, sometimes 3D printings fail. Think gaps in the design, duplicate parts or even disconnected parts. With Printivate on the team, 3D Hubs wants to improve the 3D printing quality.
This drop in the failure rate of course leds to a reduction in handling and turnaround time per print (which is hours or even days). This ultimately means more orders and less costs.
Professional use
Earlier this year 3D Hubs secured a 7 million dollar investment. With that money, the startup wanted to focus on professional users. The acquisition of Printivate fits well in this idea. Because when you aim for professional 3D printer, you better have tech that makes the whole process smooth and easy (and make prints actually look like finished products).
"Our goal is to build the most efficient 3D print solution for professionals working in design and manufacturing. We're going to achieve this by integrating advanced tools directly into the 3D Hubs platform. The acquisition of Printivate is another large step forward", said CEO Bram de Zwart in a press release.
3D Hubs expects the new functionality to go live before the end of the year.
Image: Creative Tools @ Flickr, CC BY 2.0