The Eurecat technology centre and fund manager BeAble Capital have set up the spin-off Reinforce3D, which will bring new reinforcement technology for 3D printed parts, components and products to a market estimated to hit €31.5 billion by 2026.
Reinforce3D, in which BeAble Capital is to invest up to €650,000 across several stages, delivers a new system patented by Eurecat to reinforce 3D-printed parts using continuous carbon fibres, thereby significantly increasing their strength and reducing their weight. It has a multi-sector impact and is expected to achieve a technology value multiplier factor of between 8 and 10 over the next three years.
“This technology makes it possible to address some of the mechanical performance, dimensions and part type limitations that additive manufacturing has at present,” says Marc Crescenti, CTO and partner at Reinforce3D and the architect of the technology in his role as a researcher at Eurecat.
“Strengthening the part by post-processing, rather than during the manufacturing process as other technologies do, delivers some truly disruptive advantages.”
A model of industrial entrepreneurship
The spin-off is based at Eurecat’s site in Amposta and is the outcome of the combined efforts of Eurecat’s Valuation department; Marc Crescenti’s scientific entrepreneurship with the support of the Product Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Systems units which have developed the machinery to automate carbon fibre injection in parts previously manufactured by 3D printing; and BeAble Capital’s investment coupled with its strategic and management capabilities.
Reinforce3D “is a model of industrial entrepreneurship anchored in a technology developed and matured within Eurecat and invented by one of the technology centre’s experts,” says Ferran Soldevila, Eurecat’s Industrial Product Director.
BeAble Capital: technology transfer experts
BeAble Capital is the leading fund manager in Spain in Science Equity investment: technology transfer and Deep Science. Its team are experts in identifying the best technologies emerging in scientific fields and investing in them at very early, pre-seed and seed stages.
“It’s crucial for us that these technologies are disruptive and scalable and that they can be turned into profitable products with which to build a high value-added and extremely profitable industry,” says Alberto Díaz, a partner at BeAble Capital. “This is something we have picked out in Reinforce3D.”
Advantages of the new technology provided by Reinforce3D
The advantages of the new technology to be marketed by Reinforce3D include enhanced mechanical performance, manufacturing lighter parts, multi-material structures, complex geometries, the feasibility of large 3D part sizes, customisation and using plastic, metal or ceramic materials.
The additive manufacturing market
The Additive Manufacturing Trend Report 2021 published by 3D Hubs estimates the additive manufacturing market at €10.7 billion in 2020 and it is expected to continue to grow by 17 percent annually over the period 2021-2026 to reach €31.5 billion by 2026.
The JEC Observer: Current trends in the global composites industry 2020-2025 says the composites industry is growing at 5 percent annually and has a market worth €86 billion. The fastest growing segment is carbon-reinforced composites, the field targeted by Reinforce3D’s technology, with an 11 percent annual increase reflecting the major innovation trends in the market such as automation, thermoplastic composites and recyclability.
