3D Architech Is Our 2025 Startup of the Year!

2025 brought steady progress across the additive manufacturing landscape, along with new startups worth watching. We spotlighted a standout startup each month, highlighting innovations that ranged from personalized medical solutions to unique manufacturing technologies. In December, we brought together the twelve finalists for our Startup of the Year award and invited our readers to vote. After weeks of anticipation, the verdict is in: with 193 of 729 votes, 3D Architech has officially claimed the title!

Operating across the United States and Japan, 3D Architech has developed a proprietary gel-based metal 3D printing process that sets it apart. The approach begins with a lithography-based method to fabricate gel structures with highly precise architectures. These structures are then transformed, through a specialized process, into fully metallic or alloy components.

According to founder and CEO Kai Narita, the technology’s key strengths lie in its ability to produce micron-scale features as small as 10 microns through advanced microarchitecture design, while also delivering significant cost reductions and high throughput. This combination enables a seamless transition from R&D to optimized designs for specific applications, and ultimately to the mass production of customized, high-performance parts. The process also offers exceptional material versatility, making it suitable for a wide range of applications. At present, 3D Architech is focusing on the cooling, energy, and manufacturing sectors.