a-metal attracts its first customers for the upcoming pilot

While additive manufacturing has many benefits, many companies have continued using their traditional processes – metal 3D printers are costly, require a lot of space, and pose safety risks during operation due to the handling of hazardous metal powders. Zurich-based startup a-metal tackles these hurdles with its affordable, compact, and safe machine solution with the goal of making metal additive manufacturing accessible to the broad industry.

The co-founders Stephan Steiner and Andreas Kuster leveraged their industry and research experience in additive manufacturing and expertise in automation, electronics, and 3D printing to develop a technology that combines a unique cartridge system for safe powder handling, enabling users to operate the machine without requiring a laboratory environment, making it accessible on a very small footprint to anyone in the industry. Moreover, this cutting-edge entry-level solution not only enhances process robustness but also delivers competitive printing speed at an affordable price. Starting with general prototyping, tooling and dental sectors, a-metal also aims to tap into the high-end aerospace and MedTech market on their long-term roadmap.

For the upcoming pilot phase next year, the startup has already welcomed three out of ten pre-paying companies ready to test the solution in a real-life scenario for 6 months. Samuel Werder AG, a manufacturer of metal parts for customers that order parts in batch sizes from approximately 50 to 10,000 pieces is one of the customers. The company will use a-metal’s 3D printer to manufacture aids for its production, prototypes and small series for customers. NT K+D AG, a service provider for plastic 3D printing and manufacturer of industrial sealing solutions with a focus on solutions in the life science industry and plant engineering, sees opportunities to develop innovative and high-performance products such as hybrid solutions, that is, plastic, elastomer and metal composite and production aids using 3d printing. The third customer on board is Pilatus Flugzeugwerke AG, the Swiss aeroplane manufacturer which will expand its existing prototype workshop with a metal 3D printer, creating new opportunities for development.

Off to a good start
Parallel to attracting its first customers, a-metal has been building its track record. In the past months, the company has been able to equip its workshop and advance its proprietary mechanics, electronics and software development to be able to provide its solution at an affordable price. The startup has also increased the team to five full-time employees.

This year, the startup also secured capital in the form of a convertible loan and grants amounting to over CHF 665’000. The funds will continue to facilitate the market entry plans. The next fundraising for the seed round will start in January, allowing the startup to launch and run the pilot program, grow the team and develop a series product that will be released in the DACH market in Q3 2025.

(RAN)