Printing Money Episode 25: Deals & Analysis with Arno Held (AM Ventures) and Tali Rosman

Welcome to 2025, and welcome to Printing Money Episode 25!  For this episode Danny welcomes back a couple of previous guests: Arno Held (AM Ventures) and startup advisor Tali Rosman.

It’s a new year so, naturally, this episode has its share of reflecting on the 2024 that was and the 2025 (and beyond) that will be. Danny, Arno, and Tali start off by harkening back one last time to Formnext – what is traditionally the end of the 3D printing year turned out only to be a prelude to a whole lot of industry-shifting news in December.

So yes, Danny, Arno and Tali discuss Shapeways’ rebirth, Forward AM’s insolvency, Velo’s restructuring, voxeljet’s go-private. And this is all really interesting, but it’s only the appetizer.

Next, Episode 25 wades into the deep end, analyzing and opining on the goings-on with Nano Dimension. Will the acquisitions of Desktop Metal and Markforged happen? Will the shareholder activists force the company to unwind? And what’s this about tin foil hats and Russian oligarchs?

After the Nano Dimension discussion, Episode 25 moves on to review some of 2024’s venture capital raises, including a few recent ones.  Then, Danny, Arno and Tali consider the current artificial intelligence (AI) revolution and how it might dovetail with what’s to come for additive manufacturing (AM) this year and further into the future.

Please enjoy Episode 25, and please join Danny, Arno, Tali, and your other favorite Printing Money personalities at AM Strategies next month, Feb 4-6 in New York City.

This episode was recorded January 8, 2025.

Timestamps:

00:14 – Welcome to Episode 25

00:31 – Welcome back to Arno Held (AM Ventures) and Tali Rosman

01:21 – Reflections on Formnext and summing up 2024

03:48 – BASF Forward AM insolvency filing

05:11 – So much happened after Formnext!

07:38 – Shapeways reborn

09:14 – Velo3D (VLDX) restructured

11:31 – Voxeljet acquired by its investor, Anzu Partners

12:10 – Whither Nano Dimension (NNDM), Desktop Metal (DM), and Markforged (MKFG)?

13:11 – A pile of cash, shareholder activism, lawsuits…

15:01 – russianoligarchs.com (That’s not a typo!)

17:32 – The Oerlikon (OERLY) connection

21:45 – What should/could Nano Dimension do?

26:35 – Siemens to acquire Altair, 3D Systems selling Geomagic to Hexagon

28:23 – Buyers’ market: VC into AM has dropped 80% in twenty-four months

30:33 – Broad themes for 2025: M&A is coming back, Reshoring is now, Materials in focus

35:10 – Fabri raises $5M for investment casting

36:33 – Industrializing AM technology: Conflux raises $11M Series B

38:23 – AM Ventures and HZG Group co-invest on Spectroplast

39:43 – HZG invests in Craftcloud/All3DP

40:31 – AI in the 3D printing industry

41:46 – 1000 Kelvin and Euler deploy AI to 3DP/AM

45:27 – The next wave for 3DP/AM has already gotten started

47:02 – Come meet us at AMS (Feb 4-6 in NYC)!

47:43 – Thanks to Arno and Tali!

Disclaimer:

This content is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Nothing stated on this podcast constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer by the hosts, the organizer or any third-party service provider to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments in this or in any other jurisdiction in which such solicitation or offer would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.  The information on this podcast is of a general nature that does not address the circumstances and risk profile of any individual or entity and should not constitute professional and/or financial advice. Referenced transactions are sourced from publicly available information.