Solvay Ventures announces today its equity investment in Kumovis, a German startup developing a cutting-edge 3D printing ecosystem for medical applications. Kumovis wants to shape the future of the production of medical devices thanks to 3D printing technologies, by enabling its manufacturing right at the point of care. The Kumovis R1 is an open 3D printing system based on Fused Layer Manufacturing that can use a wide range of thermoplastic materials, ranging from PLA to PEEK.
 |
As a world leader in high-performance specialty polymers, Solvay develops innovative solutions for healthcare applications and offers notably the industry's broadest selection of high-performance thermoplastics. Solvay’s advanced materials meet the needs of the most demanding industries, including biocompatibility for implantable devices. Solvay is committed to developing next generation, high performing Additive Manufacturing-ready materials to support the transition to patient-specific products.
“Its impressive team, its product quality and performance attributes give us confidence that Kumovis is poised to disrupt traditional manufacturing methods in the demanding medical industry. By accelerating the transition to personalized medicine, Kumovis and Solvay will expand together the application space for high-performance specialty polymers in healthcare, and have the potential to do so in other industries as well,” says Stéphane Roussel, Solvay Ventures Managing Director.
"Not only are the two additional investors luminaries in their fields, from now on they are our new partners with a strong commitment to pushing the limits of high-performance materials. With Solvay, we welcome a world leader in specialty polymers to the Kumovis business venture. We are confident that there will be even more synergies for 3D printing of high-performance polymers beyond our previous joint projects,” adds Miriam Haerst, co-CEO and co-founder of Kumovis.
The investment in Kumovis was co-led by Solvay Ventures, the Corporate Venture Capital activity of Solvay and Renolit SE, with participation from existing Seed investors High-Tech Gründerfonds and Filipa Venture Capital. Munich-based company Kumovis was founded as a spin-off of the Technical University of Munich in October 2017.
“Not only does this investment align with Solvay’s ambition to become a leading provider of AM-ready advanced polymer solutions, but it furthers Solvay’s commitment to improving health and quality of life in general,” concludes Stéphane Roussel.
