Zurich — Zurich-based startup 9T Labs is focu­sing on carbon 3D prin­ting and offers retro­fit kits for commer­ci­ally available 3D prin­ters to enable them to print from carbon. The company has now recei­ved finan­cing of 3.9 million euros. In addi­tion to exis­ting inves­tor Wing­man Ventures, new inves­tors such as the Swiss VCs Inves­tiere and Tech­no­logy Fund also parti­ci­pa­ted in the round. 9T Labs is also supported by the Euro­pean Space Agency Esa.

All-in-one solu­tion for carbon fiber 3D printing
A spin-off of ETH Zurich, Switz­er­land, 9T Labs was co-foun­ded by Ches­ter Houwink, Giovanni Cavo­lina and Martin Eichen­ho­fer in 2018. The company’s mission state­ment is to make “carbon fiber compo­site mate­ri­als as acces­si­ble as ordi­nary metal mate­ri­als” through 3D prin­ting. 9T Labs aims to achieve this goal by provi­ding an inte­gra­ted work­flow for produ­cing carbon fiber compo­site parts. Included in this work­flow is an all-in-one solu­tion of soft­ware, 3D prin­ting tech­no­logy, and post-proces­sing capabilities.

Curr­ently, in deve­lo­p­ment, 9T Labs’ tech­no­logy includes its Fibrify soft­ware, which allows users to moni­tor their 3D prin­ting acti­vity and opti­mize fiber place­ment accor­ding to the load case. The company is also deve­lo­ping its 3D prin­ter for carbon fiber compo­site produc­tion, known as the Red Series. It compri­ses two units: an FDM 3D prin­ter, equip­ped with a paten­ted prin­thead for conti­nuous carbon fiber produc­tion, and a system for post-proces­sing, named the Fusion Unit. With its 3D prin­ting tech­no­logy, 9T Labs claims that uses can produce carbon fiber parts with less than two percent void content, and up to sixty percent volu­metric carbon compo­site content.

9T Labs has also deve­lo­ped what is known as the Carbon­Kit. An add-on for FDM 3D prin­ters, the Carbon­Kit is made up of a carbon fiber PA12 spool, mate­rial box and prin­thead with dual extru­sion, provi­ding exis­ting machi­nes with carbon fiber 3D prin­ting capa­bi­li­ties. Thanks to its tech­no­logy, 3D Prin­ting Indus­try listed 9T Labs as one of the 3D prin­ting start­ups to watch at the MUST 3D Prin­ting event in 2018. In 2019, 9T Labs was also short­lis­ted for Startup of the Year at the 3D Prin­ting Indus­try Awards. (Source: https://3dprintingindustry.com)