Supernova
Joint Photo with titles
BCN3D has announced it has carved out its Viscous Lithography Manufacturing (VLM) business unit into Supernova.
Supernova was incorporated in Q4 2023 and with have headquarters in Austin, Texas and Barcelona, Spain. The new company will not operate at a subsidiary of BCN3D, but as an independent entity with no further bonds between the two companies.
VLM is a lithography-based additive manufacturing process that laminates thin layers of high-viscosity resins onto a transparent transfer film prior to the resin being photopolymerised into a 3D printed object. With this technology, Supernova says resins that are 100 times more viscous than those used in DLP, SLA and MSLA processes can be processed, potentially unlocking ‘an unparalleled range of properties’ that are closer to thermoplastics than standard thermosets. The company also says that VLM can handle silicones, epoxies and filled materials as well as acrylates.
The VLM process was launched by BCN3D in March 2022, with the company announcing a Technology Adoption Program that would seek to install up to 20 VLM machines with beta users three months later. Since, it has been revealed that Dyndrite software will support the VLM 3D printing systems, but there had otherwise been no further updates. That was until January 2024, when the company called a virtual press briefing to announce that VLM would now move forward as an independent business unit. The primary reason for this carve out, BCN3D says, is to provide VLM with an independent environment in which to flourish.
Supernova has confirmed its business model will rely on machine sales, with more than 500 companies signed up to its Technology Adoptions Program. Key partnerships with Puma, Saint Gobin, Orbea, Hutchinson and Prodrive have been established, while materials partnerships with Arkema, ALTANA, Elkem, Henkel and Rahn are also in place. There has been no date given for when the technology will be fully commercialised, but Supernova has confirmed the first beta systems will be installed in 2024. While those machines are delivered to beta users and applications are developed for key vertical markets, the company will place its focus on materials development and the industrialisation of its product ecosystem for 2024.
Roger Antunez, who previously served as the General Manager of BCN3D since 2019, will lead Supernova as CEO, with Marta Mico, formerly the VLM Head of Business Development at BCN3D, joining him as co-founder. Eric Pallares, the former CTO of BCN3D, will now serves as Distinguished Technologist at the new company, but the rest of the BCN3D team will remain in place. BCN3D Sales Director Pol Domenech has stepped up as the new General Manager.
With Supernova carved out, BCN3D will continue under the leadership of CEO Xavi M. Faneca. Its focus will remain on its core business of extrusion-based technologies, with aims to grow its IDEX segment created in 2016. In particular, BCN3D will work to grow its industrial offering with products like Omega I60, which features IDEX technology, an actively heated printed chamber, and an architecture designed to facilitate high-speed 3D printing.
