AREVO launches world’s first high-speed AM composite system

AREVO, a young Californian company, is known for having developed an additive manufacturing platform to transform composites production in the AM sector. As you may know, composites represent a growing segment in this industry, and have started competing with some metal AM processes as they offer interesting properties for some overlapping applications in sectors like aerospace. In order to continue the transformation of this segment, AREVO has announced the introduction of a new system, the Aqua 2. The company states that it represents the world’s first high speed system for large continuous carbon fibre composite 3D printing. In addition, AREVO has closed its Series B funding round and raised $25M, which brings their total funding to $60M.

Led by Defy Partners and GGV Capital, Trae Vassallo, founding partner at Defy Partners states: “AREVO’s new platform enables fabrication of high strength, low weight carbon fibre parts, currently not possible with today’s standard techniques. We are thrilled to be working with the team to scale up this incredibly impactful technology.” In fact, the Aqua 2 is said to be able to print 4x faster than its predecessor, enabling the on-demand production of up to one cubic meter custom composite parts.

AREVO: scaling up composite 3D printing

It is no surprise that continuous composite 3D printing is gaining such popularity. After speaking with Sonny Vu, CEO of AREVO, he explained to us that such a solution makes sense anytime you need a part that is very strong but light, especially when it’s too geometrically complex for the traditional laminate approach to fabricate. He adds: “Also, useful when you need something fast, say in a few hours, and can’t wait 18 months for someone to make a mold and set up a manufacturing line for you. Also, it’s especially useful for situations when you don’t know how many parts you will need and can only order a few at a time.”