08-05-2020: Nexa3D acquired NXT Factory

By this move, Nexa3D opened doors to ultra-fast SLS 3D printing

On August 5, 2020, Nexa3D, a manufacturer of ultra-fast stereolithography 3D printers, announced the acquisition of NXT Factory - the inventor of Quantum Laser Sintering (QLS) technology and maker of 3D printers based on it. This acquisition enabled Nexa3D to start offering complementary high-speed technologies for production-grade photoplastic and thermoplastic materials. Two interesting facts: NXT Factory has roots in Poland, and the transaction was facilitated by Avi Reichental, who was involved in the founding of both companies.

NXT Factory was founded by Kuba Graczyk and Tomasz Cieszyński in 2016. Prior to that, they developed the Krakow-based company Sand Made sp. z o.o., which, like the local competitor Sinterit, produced affordable SLS 3D printers. However, after two years, the team concluded that the world did not need another inexpensive device of this kind. Instead, they set a goal to create the fastest possible 3D printing method based on laser sintering of polyamide powders.

NXT Factory proposed a new approach to SLS technology. Instead of sintering layers with a single laser, they developed a method that allowed for simultaneous sintering of an entire layer of polymer at the same time. This technology was intended to be to SLS what DLP technology is to SLA. Thus, the QLS method was born.

Avi Reichental, former president and CEO of 3D Systems, joined the companies from the very beginning. It was he, also serving as CEO of Nexa3D, who led the acquisition of NXT Factory.

As our campus in Ventura expanded, we, in parallel, built two very complementary products and, at a certain time towards the end of 2019, we began to realise that we were finding ourselves repeating for NXT Factory a lot of the steps that we’ve taken maybe six or nine months prior with Nexa3D, which is a little bit further ahead in its evolution.

Ultimately, after the first wave of the C19 pandemic, the management of both companies decided that the best and safest way to ensure the sustainability of their businesses was to merge into one entity.

This happened exactly four years ago, and Nexa3D has successfully developed the NXT Factory product line, which has become an integral part of their offering.