Startup Fluent Metal Launches to Offer Liquid Metal Printing

Fluent Metal is developing production-grade liquid metal printing within the metal additive manufacturing space. The company is launching out of stealth with an additional $3.2M in venture capital funding, led by E15 with participation from Pillar VC and industry angels, bringing the total funding to $5.5M.

Fluent Metal's drop-on-demand approach is compatible with most metals, including refractories, according to the company. The approach enables the creation of parts in a single-step process, minimizing variability, the company adds. It is reportedly energy efficient by using less starting material and producing no waste.

“Drop-on-demand technology is an elegant approach to create complex metal components,” says Peter Schmitt, CEO. “Whether it's prototype iterations of an idea or production runs of a single part, Fluent Metal will provide customers with great operational and material flexibility. This freedom will unlock new creativity and problem solving abilities across industries.”

Fluent Metal is developing an alternative lean overhead process, to make it more sustainable, operational efficient and functional, using an inkjet printer-like approach.

Fluent Metal's drop-on-demand approach is:

• Functional: Using wire as the starting material and producing no waste, Fluent Metal enables multimetal printing. It's possible for high-value metals to be intricately combined. Complex shapes such as fully enclosed voids and internal channels are possible due to the inkjet-like printhead and parallel throughput.
• Operationally efficient: Fluent Metal's approach is designed to operate safely on a typical manufacturing floor or even in a prototyping shop, without the need for clean rooms or involved safety measures. Material changeover is designed to be easy as plug-n-play.
• Sustainable: This approach produces no waste and uses reduced energy compared to powder-based technologies, the company says.

Fluent Metal is led by industry veterans from Desktop Metal, Vulcan Forms, and the MIT Media Lab. Visit www.fluentmetal.com to learn more about contract manufacturing and more about expanded product offerings.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.