Almost a year ago, during last summer, the German company Kumovis presented its proprietary device, dedicated to 3D printing from medical PEEK material. Now the company has closed the financing series A, obtaining EUR 3.6 million – among investors was, among others Solvay Ventures, a Venture Capital fund of the Belgian chemical company Solvay.
Stéphane Roussel, Managing Director of Solvay Ventures, argued that the investment decision was based on the team’s knowledge and skills and the quality of the 3D prints produced. He also believes that the solutions proposed by Kumovis can compete with traditional manufacturing methods in the medical industry.
The collected funds will allow the company to accelerate the company’s development and enter foreign markets, while allowing them to reach manufacturers of medical devices around the world. Stefan Leonhardt, co-founder of Kumovis, emphasizes that the company’s goal from the beginning was to enable both medical companies and hospitals to easily print 3D polymers such as PEEK.
The Kumovis company was founded in 2017, and R1 is their first 3D printer, allowing for 3D printing with PEEK in the surgical standard. The creators’ goal was to create such a printer that would meet the restrictive standards set for medical applications. From the beginning, the device was designed for medical applications (including individual implants or preoperative models), 3D printed from high-temperature polymeric materials such as PEEK.
The R1 device is equipped with a temperature control system in the 3D printing area and a filtering system – this allows users to create the so-called “Clean room,” or conditions of a clean working chamber. The implemented, patented temperature management system gives a chance to uniformly heat the entire 3D printing area to a temperature of 250 degrees Celsius, which is crucial when it comes to the adhesion of the material to the work table. In turn, filters installed in the device prevent dirt and foreign bodies from getting into the device’s working chamber.
3D printer, R1 will continue to be developed and enriched with new features. At the same time, company representatives will strive to develop an ecosystem of solutions, establishing cooperation with other companies operating in the chemical and material engineering industries.
Source: www.centrumdruku3d.pl