Shapeways
 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | 3D Printing, e-Commerce, Marketplace |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Founder(s) | Peter Weijmarshausen, Robert Schouwenburg, Marleen Vogelaar |
| Headquarters | New York |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Website | shapeways.com |
Shapeways is a Dutch founded, New York based 3D printing marketplace and service, startup company. Users upload design files, and Shapeways prints the objects for them or others.[1][2] Users can have objects printed from a variety of materials, including food-safe ceramics.[3]
As of June 20, 2012, Shapeways printed and sold more than one million user-created objects.[4]
On October 19, 2012 Shapeways opened a new '3-D printing factory' in Queens, New York that could house 50 industrial printers and churn out millions of consumer-designed products a year.[4]
Company
In 2013 shapeways employs over 90 people. The headquarters is located in New York with offices in Eindhoven and Seattle. Shapeways is a spin-out of the lifestyle incubator of Royal Philips Electronics. Investors include Lux Capital, Union Square Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz in New York and Index Ventures in London.[4]
History
Shapeways began as a spin-off of Royal Philips Electronics, the Netherlands in 2007. It was founded by Peter Weijmarshausen, Robert Schouwenburg and Marleen Vogelaar and the idea came forth at the Philips design department. It achieved further developed under the `Philips Lifestyle Incubator` program which offers support for start-up companies with innovative ideas.[5][6]
In 2008 a service was launched that allowed customers to design their own 3-dimensional products through rapid prototyping by sending a CAD-file to the Shapeways website to 3D print.[7] Designers can also sell their own designs to be 3D printed on demand for customers, Shapeways handles the financial transaction, manufacture, distribution and customer service, profits go to the designer.[8]
Originally the rapid prototyping could only print using simple materials. Later nylon was added as a possibility. In 2009 it was made public that they succeeded in also manufacturing stainless steel. As of 2012 the scale and possible materials have been further expanded to include sterling silver,[9] acrylic, full color 3D printing and food safe ceramics.[10]
The option now exist for consumers to adapt designs without prior knowledge of 3D design programming. There are models which can be adapted real-time by uploading new text or pictures: so-called 'Creators'. There is also the possibility of participating in Co-Creator platforms in which consumers and designers work together to achieve optimal results.
See also
References
- ↑ Caleb Garling, “3-D Printers Will Build Circuit Boards ‘In 2 Years’”, Wired magazine, November 4, 2011
- ↑ Daniel Terdiman, “Autodesk bringing 3D modeling to the masses”, Cnet, November 3, 2011
- ↑ Nick Bilton, “With Help From Shapeways, You Can Print Your Dishes”, New York Times, May 12, 2011
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Shapeways hits one million 3D printed creations, June 20, 2012, Raven Lovecraft, TG Daily, retrieved at June 22, 2012
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑ Nederlandse Shapeways start printen 3D-objecten
- ↑ http://www.businessinsider.com/shapeways-3d-printing-2012-12
- ↑ http://www.wired.com/beyond_the_beyond/2011/03/spime-watch-shapeways-fabricating-in-silver/
- ↑ http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/13/shapeways-glazed-ceramics-make-3d-printed-objects-you-can-eat-of/