As the first Australian 3D printing company, Perth-based Aurora Labs commenced its first day of trading on the ASX earlier this week. In an initial public offering Aurora Labs managed to raise $ 2.8 million.
Founded in 2014, the company has been working on a fast metal 3D printer. CEO and Co-founder David Budge came up with the idea to start the 3D printing company, as he tells Australian Printer: “The company started two years ago when some friends and I were building rocket motors and we decided to make a 3D metal printer,” he explains. “After that I said to co-founders Jess Snelling and Wil Crisp, ‘would you guys be interested in creating a start-up company’, and they said yes.”
Aurora’s metal 3D printer is both faster and less expensive when compared to competing hardware on the market. The team has already created a small format metal 3D printer that is currently in production and is available for under $ 50,000. It features three different printing modes – SLS, SLM and DED (Directed Energy Deposition) – and can work with different materials in one print thanks to three independently controlled powder hoppers. large format version of the system is in its prototype phase.
Budge explains why they decided to go public: “We did investigate other avenues for raising capital which were not successful so we decided to go down the IPO route to successfully raise capital as a small company of Australia.” He adds: “Certainly everyone was very surprised at how well it has done. I think we have a very interesting production and an enormous blue sky as far as the company is concerned.”
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