General Electric Ventures and Saudi Aramco Ventures have led an investment of $52m in total funding into a Boston-based 3D printing device company, Desktop Metal.
Desktop Metal aims to bring “an everyday-use metal 3D printing solution to the workspace of every engineering team,” according to CEO Ric Fulop. Boston Business Journal reports that the investment from Aramco, G.E. and other U.S.-based venture capital firms will be used to “fund product development, hiring, and business operations.”
“Additive manufacturing is crucial to accelerating innovation at GE and bringing better products to market faster. We are excited to be part of Desktop Metal’s future as they tackle these challenges to broader accessibility,” Steve Taub, Senior Director of Advanced Manufacturing at GE Ventures said in a release.
Aramco Ventures in Dhahran.
The investment by Saudi Aramco Ventures is the latest made by the oil giant’s venture capital arm into the United States. In fact, the firm’s investment into Desktop Metal was the second announced U.S. by the company on the same day.
Aramco Ventures also took part in the funding of Zahroof Valves, a Houston-based manufacturer and seller of reciprocating gas compressor valves that improve valve efficiency, service intervals and productivity. The Series C investment was for an undisclosed amount.
In June, Aramco was the lead investor a second time in Parsable, a company that helps large industrial firms by replacing legacy paper workflows with modern collaboration technology designed for industrial work.
Dhahran-based Aramco Ventures follows an investment strategy that invests money into “early-stage and high growth companies with technologies of strategic importance to Aramco, to accelerate their development and their deployment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.” Investments by Aramco Ventures include upstream and downstream oil and gas, petrochemicals, renewables, energy efficiency and water sectors.
“Our objective is to deploy technologies that enhance the identification and management of reserves, enhance primary energy production, improve operational efficiency, increase value capture in downstream processing, and support optimization of Kingdom energy and water consumption,” Aramco Ventures says on its website.
