#3DStartup: MATERIAL’s 3D Printed Batteries Could Change the Way We Build Devices

For decades, hardware design has been dictated by a stubborn reality: the battery is a block. Whether designing a drone or a smartphone, engineers have had to build around the rigid, heavy constraints of traditional cylindrical or prismatic cells, compromising on weight distribution and shape just to keep the lights on.

A Texas and Florida-based startup called MATERIAL is trying to break that mold. Using a proprietary 3D printing process, the company can manufacture batteries into custom geometries, essentially allowing the power source to conform to the product, rather than the other way around. The concept is summarized by their tagline: “We don’t build batteries. We print energy.” The idea has already caught the attention of both investors and the military, with the company securing a $7.1 million seed round and a $1.25 million Air Force contract earlier this year. Because their system allows a single machine to print entirely different power sources for entirely different objects, it introduces a level of flexibility that could fundamentally alter product development. For June’s Startup of the Month, we sat down with Dr. Chris Reyes, the company’s CTO, co-founder, and the inventor of the process, to learn about the company’s vision.

3DN: Could you introduce yourself and share what led you into 3D printing?

We are MATERIAL, an advanced manufacturing company, and we have an advanced machine that can print almost anything. And the thing we’re starting with is lithium-ion batteries, which we print with our in-house nanomaterials.