AM-Flow, an industrial automation company based in Amsterdam and Brainport Eindhoven, the Netherlands, has announced the completion of a $4 million series A investment round. The company states it will use the investment to accelerate and support the Additive Manufacturing industry by providing step-change automation, with the aim of achieving what it calls the ‘Lights Out Factory of the Future’.
AM-Flow provides AI based computer vision, motion and robotics solutions to process AM parts, said to offer increased speed and efficiency levels. This Series-A funding round was led by BOM Brabant Ventures and supported by new investors and AM industry leaders Materialise (Leuven, Belgium), Midwest Prototyping (Blue Mounds, USA) and Innovatiefonds Noord-Holland (Amsterdam, Netherlands), and existing investors Miller Turner and DOEN Participaties.
“We are delighted to welcome our new investors, and I would like to thank our existing shareholders for their continued support. This strong syndicate of high-tech investors validates our approach and the funding enables us to expand our solution portfolio and market presence,” stated Stefan Rink, AM-Flow CEO.
AM-Flow notes that the challenge when engineering AM production lines is that they must be able to process AM parts with an infinite variety of geometries. This poses difficulties in identification, sorting, quality control, handling, transporting and packaging automation. By applying machine learning and an Industry 4.0 approach from the ground up, AM-Flow claims to be able to deliver modular solutions for each step.
“We have a team that is passionate about enabling Additive Manufacturing to live up to its sustainability promise: local, distributed manufacturing. To drive further adoption of Additive Manufacturing, the industry must get to competitive price and quality levels per part, and shift her focus from the 3D printer to the AM Factory,” added Rink.
Carlos Zwikker, AM-Flow’s CCO, added, “Where we are now wouldn’t have been possible without the support of our launching customers BMW, Shapeways, Midwest Prototyping, Oceanz, Marketiger and Materialise. We’re hugely indebted to the vision these leading companies are propagating with their sustainable, smart factories!”