Advanced additive manufacturing solutions company Inkbit announced it raised $19 million in funding with participation from Future Labs Capital, GC Ventures America, iGlobe Partners, Ocado, Phoenix Venture Partners, Stratasys, Zeon Ventures, and other private investors. The company also revealed that Jason Weber, Vice President of Engineering, Compressor Systems and Services, North America, and Henry Ford III, Director at the Ford Motor Company and Trustee at the Ford Foundation, will join the Inkbit Board of Directors.
Inkbit aims to drive processes where new ideas for physical products can be tested, refined, and deployed as rapidly as software. To accelerate this process, Inkbit has developed Vision-Controlled Jetting (VCJ), a multi-material manufacturing system that scales seamlessly from prototyping to production on the same platform. This technology converges advances in computation, chemistry, and process control to enable the rapid manufacturing of innovative products such as complex industrial fluidics and bio-inspired robots.
Inkbit’s technology was conceived in the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab at MIT. At the core, it is a reimagination of the traditional assembly line. VCJ combines the scalability, reliability and throughput of the original assembly line with the flexibility and intelligence of 3D machine vision-based feedback control.
Parts are built layer-by-layer on a platform that moves under several stations, each performing a specific function, like material jetting, UV curing, inspection, cooling, etc. Unlike the traditional assembly line, where each subcomponent requires a dedicated production process and supply chain, VCJ builds multi-functional products in one pass, starting from raw materials.
Inkbit’s VCJ technology is prepared to transform how we think about product design and manufacturing, especially in fields requiring multi-step assembly processes and complex supply chains. And Inkbit’s technology creates new possibilities in fields like robotics, healthcare, mobility, industrial automation and defense.
KEY QUOTES:
“From the moment we met with the extraordinary Inkbit team and saw its novel Vision-Controlled Jetting (VCJ) technology, we wanted to be part of the journey to drive commercialization and adoption across life science and industrial applications. Together, we can transform how the industry thinks about component manufacturing and accelerate innovation.”
- Vicente Reynal, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ingersoll Rand
“A century ago, my great great-grandfather developed the moving assembly line – a production method that revolutionized the automotive industry and manufacturing in general. I am delighted to join Inkbit and contribute to reinventing the assembly line for the factories of the future.”
- Henry Ford III, who joins Inkbit as Independent Director
“This new partnership with Ingersoll Rand marks a key milestone in the history of our company. We are evolving from an equipment provider to partnering with manufacturers to develop new materials and processes to enable the acceleration and simplification of product innovation. For me personally, and for our team at Inkbit, being able to learn from and be inspired by some of the most iconic names in the history of American manufacturing is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I look forward to building on this extraordinary tradition of technical ingenuity and operational excellence. Together, we will create the factories of the future.”
- Davide Marini, Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer at Inkbit
