Desktop Metal
It set out to bring metal 3D printing to factories, and fell from USD 5 billion to a USD 7 million asset sale
- Founded
- 2015
- Closed
- 2025
- Lifespan
- 10 years
- Total funding
- $438 million
- Peak valuation
- $5 billion
- Became a unicorn
- 2019
- Country
- United States
- City
- Burlington, Massachusetts
- Sector
- Hardware
- Founders
- Ric Fulop, Ely Sachs
- Investors
- BMW iVentures, Koch Disruptive Technologies, Ford Motor, Baron Capital
- At its peak
- Market value of about USD 5 billion in early 2021
- Cause of closure
- Ran out of cash
What did it do?
Desktop Metal was a Massachusetts company that built 3D printers for metal and other materials. It was founded in 2015 by Ric Fulop and a group of MIT professors including Ely Sachs, who invented binder jet printing. Through acquisitions it added businesses such as ExOne, EnvisionTEC and Aidro. It listed through a merger in December 2020.
Why did it shut down?
The merger with Trine Acquisition was announced in August 2020 at USD 2.5 billion, the shares peaked in February 2021 and market value reached about USD 5 billion. Sales in 2023 were USD 190 million against a forecast of USD 329 million from that time. A roughly USD 600 million merger with Stratasys collapsed in 2023 when Stratasys shareholders rejected it. In July 2024 Nano Dimension offered up to USD 183 million, then tried to pull out; a court ordered completion in March 2025 and the sale closed in April 2025 at USD 179.3 million. Citing heavy liabilities and liquidity needs, the company filed for Chapter 11 in Texas in July 2025. Foreign units went to an affiliate of Anzu Partners, while the main US assets were sold to Arc Impact for USD 7 million on 4 September 2025.
The story
Desktop Metal was founded in 2015 by Ric Fulop and a group of MIT professors. Their aim was to bring metal 3D printing out of the laboratory and onto the factory floor. Investors such as BMW, Ford and Koch came in, and in January 2019 PitchBook put the value at USD 1.5 billion.
In December 2020 a merger with Trine took the company public. Within weeks its market value reached about USD 5 billion, but sales did not keep pace. Revenue in 2023 stopped at USD 190 million, and the shares fell 98% from their February 2021 peak.
The search for a partner began. When Stratasys shareholders turned down a deal, it was Nano Dimension's turn. Nano wanted out, but a court ordered completion in March 2025 and the sale closed on 2 April 2025 at USD 179.3 million.
About four months later, in July 2025, the company filed for Chapter 11. Its main US businesses were sold to Arc Impact for USD 7 million in September 2025. In five years USD 5 billion had become a company sold in pieces.
Lessons for founders
- Industrial hardware sells slowly. The stock market's calendar is not your customers' calendar; before writing USD 329 million, work out how long a factory takes to decide.
- Growing by acquisition adds revenue and scatters products and teams. Cost the cash price of integration separately for every deal.
- A rescue merger is a risk too. Stratasys fell away, Nano arrived by court order and let the company go four months later; keep an independent cash plan for after the sale.
Sources
- Desktop Metal acquired after SPAC, stock plunge (The Boston Globe, 2024-07-03)
- Desktop Metal to go public through blank check company at $2.5 billion valuation (CNBC, 2020-08-26)
- Desktop Metal now officially part of Nano Dimension (3DPrint.com, 2025-04-02)
- Desktop Metal files for bankruptcy, agrees to sell foreign subsidiaries (3D Printing Industry, 2025-07-29)
- Nano Dimension subsidiary Desktop Metal files for bankruptcy (VoxelMatters, 2025-07-29)
- Arc Impact to acquire key Desktop Metal and ExOne assets in $7 million bankruptcy sale (Metal AM via CastingsSA, 2025-09)
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