Fortius Metals, Inc., an innovative metal 3D printing company, has announced today that it has closed on a priced seed financing round with AM Ventures. The $2M round will be used to scale manufacturing capacity, grow the company and accelerate its go-to-market strategy.

Fortius Metals is a large format additive manufacturing company that specialises in advanced materials to help customers develop solutions previously not possible with robotic 3D printing. Fortius Metals' patented technology will enable welding and 3D wire fabrication using high performance metal alloys to meet the exacting demands of aerospace customers and robotic welding fabricators.

AM Ventures, the foremost venture capital firm for the additive manufacturing sector, focuses solely on startups built around industrial-grade 3D printing offerings, including hardware, software, materials, and applications. AM Ventures' portfolio includes an elite group of 17 companies engaged in 3D printing, out of over 2,400 start-ups evaluated.

“We are looking forward to supplying customers who are already requesting our proprietary 6061 aluminum welding wire that solves traditional 'hot cracking' problems,” said Jeff Lints, Fortius CEO. “We are proud to be a Colorado company along with many of our space and aircraft customers.”

Fortius welds are often twice the strength of incumbent commercial options for welding and 3D printing, which will help customers increase design performance, improve product quality and reduce weight.

“We strongly believe that large scale additive manufacturing has massive potential. But until we spoke to Fortius we had not seen an investment opportunity that could accelerate adoption,” said Philip Schultheiss, Senior Associate at AM Ventures. “Jeffrey and his talented team are developing not only a way of making high strength metals readily available for large scale printing and traditional welding but also increasing their mechanical properties, an investment was just logical.” Fortius Metals' position as a potential supplier to technologically cutting-edge aerospace and defense customers inspired AM Ventures to navigate complex CFIUS clearance rules for their investment in order to open the door to a long-term partnership with Fortius.

Fortius is a spinout from Elementum 3D, headquartered in Erie, CO, which has already patented and commercialised this technology for powder bed fusion additive manufacturing. Fortius was formed to develop nanostructured metal alloy wires for use in robotic additive manufacturing applications – representing new markets and new products. The company's vision is to use advanced materials technology to re-shore the metal manufacturing supply chain while supporting highly skilled jobs in American factories.