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 –