Printing Money Episode 20: Additive Manufacturing M&A and More, with Rajeev Kulkarni

Another month, another episode of Printing Money. For Episode 20, Danny is joined by Rajeev Kulkarni. Rajeev worked at 3D Systems for more than twenty-five years, the last number of which saw him at the forefront of a plethora of asset sales and acquisitions. Now, Rajeev is on his own and works with three 3D printing startups: Axtra3D, Caracol, and Ackuretta.  We are thankful to have Rajeev for this episode and we are sure you the listener will appreciate it too. The previous episode featured Cantor’s Troy Jensen and therefore centered on quarterly earnings reports. The episode prior to that, we had Mark Burnham from the Additive Manufacturing Coalition to discuss their DC fly-in.  So, it’s been some time since we’ve focused on deals and market activity, and this episode had plenty to cover. In Episode 20 of Printing Money Danny and Rajeev discuss: Nano Dimension’s (NNDM) announced acquisition of Desktop Metal (DM) BASF’s spin out of Forward AM,  Formlabs buying a company mid-Kickstarter campaign, VC raises including  Mantle, Rapid Liquid Print, and Inkbit, financial doings from Divergent, the death of Shapeways, and plenty more. Please enjoy Episode 20! Timestamps: 00:22 – Welcome to our guest, Rajeev Kulkarni 01:15 – Rajeev’s career history: From 25 years at 3D Systems 03:55 – A company of many platforms 06:40 – M&A at 3D Systems 09:02 – Is consolidation the answer? 12:56 – The composites industry as analog for the 3DP/AM industry 16:03 – Scalability, market penetration, and (ensuing) profitability 18:43 – Nano Dimension (NNDM) to acquire Desktop Metal (DM) 25:48 – More consolidation shoes to drop?  Or collaboration? Or closure? 28:27 – Twenty-seven 3D printing startups in eight countries 31:54 – BASF spins out Forward AM 37:07 – Formlabs acquires Micronics mid-Kickstarter campaign 39:07 – Sinterit raises $1.85M bridge round 40:00 – Tech Soft 3D acquires Actify 41:45 – NSL Analytical acquired by PE firm Levine Leichtman 41:58 – Indurate Alloys acquired by Wall Colmonoy 42:22 – Materialise acquires FEops 43:42 – Mantle raises $20M Series C 45:59 – Inkbit raises $19M round including strategic Ingersoll Rand 48:14 – Rapid Liquid Print raises $7M led by HZG and BMW Ventures 49:30 – Quantica raises EUR 20M 50:57 – Scrona raises $5M round 52:13 – Divergent3D receives $47M term loan from Bridge Bank 54:32 – Stratasys invests in AM Craft 56:42 – Solideon raises $5M 57:22 – Craft Health raises $1M bridge round 57:42 – Sanofi invests in CTIBiotech 57:55 – RIP Shapeways 1:01:22 – AM Research publishes Q1 2024 3DP/AM market data; 8% year over year growth 1:03:01 – Thank you to Rajeev, and closing remarks 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.