It’s hard to believe but we’re already at the tail end of yet another year. Despite the ongoing struggles related to the global pandemic and supply chain issues creating frustration for the manufacturing industry (and beyond), if nothing else, it’s safe to say 2021 has certainly been an eventful year.
Speaking of eventful—Velo3D is now listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker VLD! That’s right, in September we completed our merger with JAWS Spitfire Acquisition Corporation to become a publicly-traded additive manufacturing (AM) technology company.
Of course, with that transition comes a lot of expectation. Thankfully, we’ve expanded our teams in the US and Europe to help drive growth and better serve our existing and future customers. We even kicked off a new Employee Spotlight series, which looks at all the amazing individuals working at the company.
We’ve added significant firepower to our commercial and executive teams, too. In September, we hired our first Vice President of Investor Relations with the appointment of Bob Okunski and added depth to our North American sales team with the appointment of Steve Starner.
Our board of directors saw some new faces as well. In addition to former BMW and Deutsche Bank CFO Stefan Krause, we welcomed Michael Idelchik, Ellen Smith, and Gabrielle Toledano to our board of directors, all of whom provide expert leadership and industry knowledge, and will play a critical role in helping to accelerate adoption of the Velo3D end-to-end AM solution.
As it did in 2020, this year provided more evidence of the value of AM, specifically the Velo3D end-to-end solution. We continue to provide our growing contingent of customers and contract manufacturers with the technology to develop critical and complex parts, many of which are simply too challenging or just plain impossible to manufacture with conventional AM systems.
For example, earlier this year, space startup Launcher, a developer of high-performance rockets for small satellites, added a second Velo3D Sapphire® system to its Long Beach, California facility. The goal here is to enhance its AM capabilities and print high-performance rocket components in titanium, such as the pressure vessels for the company’s third stage orbital transfer vehicle and satellite platform.
We also welcomed several new members to our growing partner network with Addman Engineering, Primus Aerospace, and Wagner Machine Company. We’re especially excited to welcome so many new partners. One of the main benefits of our end-to-solution is how it enables greater supply chain flexibility and scalability, and our CM partner network are a key component of that.
In Europe, we celebrated the opening of a new technical center in Augsburg, Germany, which coincided with the delivery of the region’s first end-to-end manufacturing solution to Schoeller-Bleckmann Oilfield (SBO) Technology, a European contract manufacturer specializing in the production of high-value metal parts for the oil and gas industry.
“Europe is a key market for Velo3D’s growth in the coming years and we’re thrilled to deliver our first end-to-end additive manufacturing solution and open our new technical center to accelerate this expansion,” said Benny Buller, Velo3D CEO and Founder, in a press release.
But the fun didn’t stop there. You may have noticed we received a bit of a facelift this year, with new branding, including logos, color themes, and more. We’ll have more to come on this front soon, so keep a look out in the coming months.
One thing we take very seriously is the ongoing dialogue we have with existing and prospective customers. Our mission remains to help explain and educate organizations on the differences between conventional AM and Velo3D advanced AM, along with the benefits our technology brings over incumbent technologies. To that end, we launched several new initiatives this year, including our informative and educational 3Din30 LinkedIn Live Series.
We also ramped up our monthly VeloVirtual webinars, and perhaps most exiting—we were finally able to attend live shows and have started our own circuit of live roadshows, which we plan to expand and bring to a city near you in 2022.
Last but certainly not least, we’re proud to say that Velo3D was named to Fast Company’s annual list of the world’s most innovative manufacturing companies for 2021. As Benny Buller said, “Innovation has always been a key driver of our success and is an integral part of our DNA.” Of course, we’ll continue to let that desire for innovation to drive our efforts in 2022 and beyond.
From all of us here at Velo3D, we want to thank you for joining us for what has been an unforgettable year. We’d also like to extend our best wishes to you and your families, and we hope you’ll continue to join us on what will no doubt be another eventful chapter in the Velo3D story.
