Established in 2018, 9T Labs is working in the area of composite additive manufacturing and offers higher fiber volume content through its Red Series Additive Fusion technology.

In a Nutshell
Founded in 2018, 9T Labs based in Zürich, Switzerland, is an ETH Zürich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Switzerland) spin-off working in the area of carbon composites 3D printing and enabling deposition of higher fibre volume content. Manufacturing composite equipment along with software OEM commercialization, 9T’s first market available product is the Red Series Additive Fusion Solution that produces carbon fibre-reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) composite parts. The Company is a team of 55 team members located in their headquarters,
Zurich, Switzerland.

Brains behind this
The brains behind this venture are those of Martin Eichenhofer, Chester Houwink, and Giovanni Cavolina. Martin Eichenhofer is CEO and completed his PhD from ETH Zürich, Chester Houwink is COO and co-founder and completed his MSc from ETH Zürich, Giovanni Cavolina is CCO and co-founder and completed his bachelors degree in mechanical engineering from ETH Zürich.

The Before and The After
In the present times, given the global climate challenge, we need products made with a focus on sustainability – not just in its application, but also in its manufacturing. Composites offer many relevant properties to contribute to making both high-performance and sustainable products. However, current composite manufacturing technologies remain tedious and manual. This leads to lower part consistency, higher cost, and finally to the prevalence of metals in high performance applications. With 9T Lab’s solution, metal parts can be substituted allowing weight to be reduced by almost 50% while maintaining the performance, very low waste and high material deposition freedom through the additive manufacturing process.

Technology:
When comparing the technology of 9T to other continuous fibre 3D-printing companies, it is important to note that 9T Labs’ technology allows a higher fibre volume content (up to 60%). Another very important point is that the system is open for any material (as long as it is thermoplastic). This allows customers to use their own supply-chain, a very important advantage for the regulated markets.

AM Ventures Asks
Along with technological innovations, it is important for start-ups to understand how their innovation is addressing the world’s biggest Environmental, Social and Governance Challenges. AM Ventures, our co-collaborator for this AM start-up series, poses a question to 9T on their contribution to the world’s biggest ESG challenges.

Environmental:

• Usage of thermoplastic polymers which are easier to recycle
• Possibility to source both bio-sourced polymers and fibres
• High freedom to place the material, while using specific materials only where needed

Social:

• Possibility to bring back production in the European and US markets through high automation level and easy-to-use technology
• Creating jobs as a high-growth company

Funding Facts

9T Labs was founded in 2018, through a seed round raised of approx. USD 5 mio in 2019. In February 2022, a Series A round of USD 17 mio was completed. The first market available product – Red Series Additive Fusion Technology – is available since the beginning of 2021.

They seek:
9T Labs is looking for pioneers in self-regulated markets (luxury, sports, premium automotive, drones, general industry) so as to start application-oriented collaborations.

Contact Details
Yannick Willemin
Head of Marketing & Business Development
[email protected]
+41786656970
www.9tlabs.com

Disclaimer: This AM Chronicle Startup series is powered by AM Ventures and companies mentioned in the series are not necessarily funded or supported by AM Ventures directly, unless otherwise mentioned.

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