Shapeways rises from the grave – bankrupt in July, back to operational activities by December!
The Atomic Layers: S5E3 (00119)
Atomic Layer of the Day:
Listen, today we had two big news stories—the first, as in the title—is the resurrection of Shapeways under its original brand name. But there was also another significant announcement: the sale of the German company Voxeljet to Anzu Partners LLC for a surprisingly small sum… But you'll read more about Voxeljet tomorrow—it's an extraordinary story, and its latest chapter only adds more intrigue. It deserves its own article!
Back to Shapeways…
The company is a true pioneer in the industry. Although it was founded relatively late compared to a company like Materialise (2007), it played a key role in popularizing additive manufacturing among everyday people through its marketplace. Independent designers created unique products and uploaded them to Shapeways, where consumers could order them. Shapeways would then print and ship the items.
It was a cool business model that, by the late 2010s, had transformed into a more conventional 3D printing factory. In 2017, Peter Weijmarshausen, the CEO and co-founder of Shapeways, stepped down. Four years later, the new management decided to go public, and since then, it’s been a downward spiral…
In July of this year, Shapeways went bankrupt. The end of a legend, the end of an era. You can read more about it here:
However, just a month after the bankruptcy, the Dutch team from Shapeways BV, based in Eindhoven, decided to salvage the remnants of the company by creating a new entity called Manuevo BV.
Manuevo has acquired the assets of the bankrupt Shapeways. The former Shapeways managers-then the new owners of Manuevo, claimed that the Dutch subsidiary was always a profitable unit. Its operations were disrupted solely due to the bankruptcy of the American parent company.
So the new company has resumed operations in Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States. While the news was encouraging, the new-old company carried significant burdens from its predecessor. Only 30 employees from the previous 53-member team were retained.
And the software - the thing that made Shapeways so strong and famous, was gone… (I will get back to this in a moment).
For several months, there was silence around Manuevo (by the way—what a horrible name). Suddenly, the news broke that they managed to recover the original name, the domain, the website, and customer contact data. A new opportunity has emerged to rebuild their former market position.
Additionally, the original Shapeways founders have returned to the company—Marleen Vogelaar (as CEO), Robert Schouwenburg (CTO), Jules Witte (COO), Job van de Laar (Plant Manager), and Tiago São José (Head of Engineering). The old team is supposed to guarantee the return of “the good old Shapeways.”
But that’s where the good news ends...
The "Shops" and user files have not been recovered, meaning former customers will need to re-upload their designs. The intellectual property situation remains unclear: Shapeways’ software was sold to the former CEO, Greg Kress, just before the bankruptcy.
Yes, you read that right. The company, under Greg Kress’s leadership, sold its crown jewels to Greg Kress.
When I read about these American practices (+Desktop Metal, +Nexa3D, +Velo3D, and others...), I wonder why Eastern Europe is perceived as the "wild" one?
Essentially, from an operational standpoint, the company is starting almost from scratch. They have customer contacts and can start calling and emailing them. Just like it was done 10-15 years ago...
The market competition is fierce. Xometry and Protolabs are consolidating the services sector. Additionally, there are many companies from China offering high-quality services at much lower prices.
Finally, there’s the issue of customer trust. It’s great that the “good old Shapeways” is returning, but its only real assets are nostalgia and good relationships with existing customers. Attracting new clients will be a tough battle.
So, I’m cheering them on (for nostalgic reasons), but with a sad expression on my face...
Atomic Layer from the Past:
12-03-2012: a historic merger between Stratasys and Objet took place.
News & Gossips:
Voxeljet is sold! I will get back to you with the deep background to this story tommorow.
Raise3D was upsent at Formnext, because it had nothing new to show. So a week later it annouced that it releases six new resins for its DF2 DLP Solution. I love the logic and consequence in actions.
Caracol and Additive Engineering Solutions (AES) started strategic partnership to advance aerospace & defense AM. The collaboration will include AES installing a Heron AM platform to further expand their capabilities while focusing on leveraging AES’s in-depth understanding of A&D requirements with Caracol’s technology to process critical projects like tooling for composites and full-scale engineering mockups.
Raise 3d also rising again
I Guess the title of My article on Formnext was on point 😂