Boston-based Fortify, a 3D printing firm with full-stack materials science and additive manufacturing, has raised $12.5 million from investors, including Lockheed Martin Ventures and Raytheon’s RTX Ventures. Prior investors include Accel, Cota Capital, Neotribe, Prelude, Mainspring, Ocean Azul, CIA’s venture arm In-Q-Tel and the Department of Energy.
Fortify’s Digital Composite Manufacturing (DCM) enables new mechanical, electrical, thermal, and electromagnetic properties that it says cannot be achieved with current 3D printed photopolymers. It also developed Fluxprint, a magnetic 3D printing technology that uses resin to make composites with optimized microstructures. Since last November, the company is led by CEO Lawrence Ganti, after co-founder Josh Martin stepped down to assume the role of chief product officer.
“We are thrilled to have Lockheed Martin Ventures and RTX Ventures as strategic investors,” said Ganti, who was most recently president of SiO2 Materials Science. “Their expertise and global reach in the aerospace and defense industries will be invaluable in helping us to continue to innovate and scale our digital composite manufacturing platform.”
Focus on Defense, Aviation
Besides having both Lockheed Martin and Raytheon as customers, Fortify has other defense customers. Among them are the US Department of Energy, Rogers Corporation, Lawrence Livermore National Labs, TTM Technologies and Ierus Technologies.
“Lockheed Martin Ventures’ continued investment in Fortify underpins the strategic advantage the company can bring to the defense industrial base,” said Chris Moran, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Ventures. “We believe Fortify has the potential to deliver tailored solutions not only to the aerospace and defense industry, but a range of sectors that can benefit from their platforms.”
RTX Ventures’ Daniel Ateya said the Fortify team has “demonstrated an innovative and laser-focused vision that should advance (its) additive manufacturing capabilities to the next level.” Fortify’s DCM platform also “aligns with our commitment to investing in cutting-edge technologies that can deliver significant value to our customers and partners,” he added.
‘Post-processing Is Key’
Fortify was co-founded by Martin and Karlo Delos Reyes, who serves as the company’s chief customer officer, with technology developed by Martin during his doctoral research at Northeastern University. Martin has been named to the Forbes 30-under-30 list. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Delaware and a PhD in Materials Engineering from Northeastern University through a National Science Foundation Fellowship.
In an interview to an industry publication, Martin was upbeat about Fortify’s prospects. “An area of opportunity with photopolymer-based printing is in everything that comes after printing a part. I believe that post-processing is an underappreciated part of the manufacturing process. The reality is that post-processing in a reliable and scalable way is what usually breaks a cost model,” he told 3D Printing.
On his decision to vacate the corner office, Martin said the startup was moving from a “phase of initial product introduction to the market to commercial scale-up, and I, along with my co-founders and the board, felt it was the right time to bring in some outside expertise to help lead Fortify to the next level.”
Reyes received two bachelor degrees from the University of California San Diego in Chemical Engineering and Biochemistry/Cellular Biology, and a Masters degree in Chemical Engineering from Northeastern. He established a so-called Origin Program at Northeastern to help student entrepreneurs, with Fortify among its beneficiaries.
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Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) last year doubled funding for Lockheed Martin Ventures to $400 million to advance “21st century technologies.” With the increased funding, the defense contractor’s venture arm aims to double the number of portfolio investments. Its recent investments include RED 6, Ayar Labs, 3d Glass Solutions, Orbit Fab, SpaceNews and Orbit Fab.
RTX Ventures, based in San Francisco, was established last year with undisclosed funding from the aerospace and defense giant Raytheon. It aims to back startups that broadly address the following four priority areas — secure and connected ecosystems, autonomy and artificial intelligence technologies, power and propulsion systems, and precision sensing and effects.
Raytheon’s venture unit is headed by Ateya, who was previously a director at 3M Ventures. RTX eyes between five and 10 deals per year. Its recent investments include SpiderOak, Neural Propulsion Systems, H55, VerdeGo Aero and Hermeus.
