Freeform Raises $67M Series B To Scale Up Laser AI Manufacturing

Laser AI Manufacturing: Freeform Raises $67M to Scale Metal 3D Printing

Freeform just secured $67 million in Series B funding to accelerate its laser AI manufacturing platform for high-speed metal 3D printing. The investment will help the startup scale production of precision metal components using hundreds of synchronized lasers and real-time artificial intelligence controls. Investors including Founders Fund, Nvidia's NVentures, and Two Sigma Ventures backed the round, signaling strong confidence in the future of intelligent, software-driven industrial production. For manufacturers seeking faster, more flexible ways to build complex metal parts, this development marks a significant step toward making on-demand, digital fabrication a reality at scale.

Credit: Freeform

The Vision Behind Freeform's Laser AI Manufacturing Revolution

When Erik Palitsch co-founded Freeform in 2018, he carried hard-won insights from his time developing rocket engines at SpaceX. He saw firsthand how traditional metal 3D printers struggled with speed, reliability, and cost—barriers that kept additive manufacturing from reaching true mass production. Freeform was built to solve those problems from the ground up, with a platform designed for throughput, precision, and intelligent automation. The company's approach centers on merging advanced hardware with adaptive software, creating a system that learns and optimizes as it builds. This vision is now gaining serious momentum, backed by fresh capital and strategic partnerships aimed at transforming how industries produce critical metal components.

How Hundreds of Lasers Transform Metal 3D Printing Speed

Freeform's current GoldenEye system already pushes boundaries by using 18 lasers working in concert to fuse metal powder into high-precision parts. But the next-generation platform, codenamed Skyfall, represents a quantum leap in capability. Skyfall will deploy hundreds of lasers simultaneously, enabling the production of thousands of kilograms of metal components every single day. This dramatic increase in throughput addresses one of additive manufacturing's longest-standing challenges: scaling beyond prototyping into true industrial volume. By coordinating laser activity with micron-level precision, the system maintains part quality even as production speed accelerates. For aerospace, defense, energy, and medical device manufacturers, this means faster iteration, reduced lead times, and greater design freedom without sacrificing reliability.

AI-Native Platform Powers Real-Time Manufacturing Intelligence

What truly sets Freeform apart is its "AI-native" architecture, where machine learning isn't an add-on but the core operating system of the manufacturing process. The company's partnership with Nvidia provides access to advanced GPUs, including H200 clusters housed directly in Freeform's data center. These powerful processors run real-time, physics-based simulations that monitor and adjust every stage of the printing workflow. As metal powder melts and solidifies under laser exposure, the AI model analyzes thermal dynamics, material behavior, and structural integrity on the fly. This closed-loop intelligence allows the system to self-correct mid-print, reducing defects and ensuring consistent quality across large production runs. The result is a manufacturing platform that doesn't just follow instructions—it learns, adapts, and improves with every job.

From SpaceX Rocket Engines to Scalable Industrial Production

Palitsch's experience at SpaceX revealed a critical gap: industrial machines for metal additive manufacturing were often expensive, temperamental, and poorly suited for high-volume output. Freeform was founded to close that gap by reimagining the entire production stack. Instead of retrofitting legacy hardware with software patches, the team built a unified platform where hardware and AI co-evolve. This approach enables greater flexibility for complex geometries, multi-material workflows, and rapid changeovers between part designs. It also lowers the barrier for manufacturers to adopt additive techniques for end-use components, not just prototypes. As industries face increasing pressure to localize supply chains and respond quickly to design changes, Freeform's scalable, intelligent system offers a compelling path forward for resilient, on-demand production.

What This Funding Means for the Future of Digital Manufacturing

The $67 million Series B round provides Freeform with the resources to refine Skyfall, expand its engineering team, and deepen collaborations with enterprise customers. While the company declined to share its post-money valuation, the caliber of investors—from Apandion to Threshold Ventures—reflects growing belief in AI-driven hardware innovation. This capital infusion arrives at a pivotal moment for advanced manufacturing, as industries seek sustainable, agile alternatives to traditional subtractive methods. Laser AI manufacturing isn't just about printing metal faster; it's about creating a responsive, data-rich production environment where every part tells a story of optimization. For Freeform, the goal is clear: make industrial-scale additive manufacturing as reliable, accessible, and intelligent as modern software deployment.

The convergence of artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, and precision hardware is unlocking new possibilities for how we build the physical world. Freeform's latest funding round signals that investors see laser AI manufacturing not as a niche experiment, but as the next evolution of industrial production. As the Skyfall platform comes online, manufacturers will gain unprecedented control over speed, quality, and customization—key advantages in an era defined by rapid innovation and supply chain volatility. While challenges remain in standardization, materials science, and workforce training, the trajectory is unmistakable: intelligent, software-defined manufacturing is moving from promise to practice. For companies ready to rethink how metal parts are made, the future is being printed—one laser, one algorithm, one breakthrough at a time.