6K has announced a $102 million Series D funding round which will help to fund the production expansion for its premium metal 3D printing powders.
The investment round – which was led by Koch Strategic Platforms and included contributions from Energy Impact Partners, Albemarle, HG Ventures and existing investors – will also support 6K Energy’s deployment of cathode production plants. Through a second tranche of the funding round, 6K expects to reach $150m in total.
6K’s proprietary UniMelt system is a microwave plasma that produces advanced materials for use in additive manufacturing and the battery market. When deployed for the production of additive manufacturing materials, the technology precisely spheroidizes
metal powders while controlling chemistry and porosity.
Harnessing this process, 6K Additive has introduced refractory metals for 3D printing in September 2021, adding tungsten and molybdenum powders to its Ti64, Stainless Steel 17-4, Nickel 718 and Nickel 625 products. A $51m Series C funding, announced in the same month, was said to enable the tripling of its metal 3D printing powder production capacity.
In recent weeks, 6K Additive has also announced an independent life cycle assessment of its UniMelt process, which showed that UniMelt required 91% less energy and reduced carbon emissions by 92% when processing a nickel material and 74% less energy and reduced carbon emissions by 78% when processing a titanium material.
6K Additive will be exhibiting at RAPID + TCT in Detroit next week from Booth #2831.