3D printing Startups

Peak Design started when founder Peter Dering quit his construction engineering job with $25k in savings to build a camera clip after struggling to carry his camera during a four-month backpacking trip. Using SketchUp and crude prototypes, he validated the idea and launched on Kickstarter in 2011, raising $364,000 in their first campaign and becoming the second most-funded project on the platform at the time. The company has since grown to $65-70M in annual revenue with just 38 employees through disciplined product innovation, bootstrapped growth, and a focus on solving real problems rather than marketing.

Grom (formerly U-Creat 3D) is a 3D printing company founded in 2012 that delivers customizable 3D printed accessories through major retailers like Walmart, Amazon, and Overstock. Co-founded by Vincent Vandepel with a 50-50 equity split, the company generated $85K in revenue in 2015 and projected $1.2M for 2016, fueled by large retail partnerships and a unique hybrid manufacturing model combining Asian production with US on-demand 3D printing. Having raised $180K on a convertible note, the founders aimed to raise $750K in seed funding at a $6M valuation to reach $2-2.2M revenue within 18 months.

Haz Design is a product design agency founded by Tracy Hazard and her husband Tom that has co-designed over 250 consumer products generating over $1 billion in retail sales. Their flagship product, an office chair launched in Costco around 2010, has sold over 1 million units and generated approximately $1 million in combined fees and royalties. The business operates on a retainer-plus-royalty model, with monthly fees ($10,000-$20,000) covering costs and 2-3% royalties on product sales, achieving an 86% success rate for products launched in the last 10 years.

Ministry of Supply is a performance professional clothing company founded by MIT graduates in 2012 that blends technology into workwear. The company achieved massive validation with a Kickstarter launch that beat its goal by 14X, raising $429,000 in the first month. By 2015, they had shipped over 100,000 units to approximately 50,000 unique customers, doubled revenue year-over-year since inception, and raised $7 million in funding while maintaining strong unit economics and focusing on repeat customer rates.

Ursa Major, founded in 2015 by former SpaceX and Blue Origin engineer Joe Laurienti, leverages 3D printing technology to manufacture rocket engines for government and private space missions. The company emerged at a critical moment when U.S. sanctions on Russia threatened the nation's access to Russian rocket engines, creating an urgent market need. Ursa Major has grown into a multimillion-dollar aerospace company supporting both U.S. space exploration and hypersonic weapons development programs.