🦄 Unicorner Startup of the Week:

Creative 3D Technologies

✍️ Notes from the Editors

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SF Tech Week is over.

We had some awesome folks come out to our TechWeek Takeover on Wednesday. In fact: this week’s cover of Creative 3D Technologies comes from an introduction made at our event!

While we couldn’t bring everyone out this time around, guess what: we're hosting our LA TechWeek Takeover this Wednesday, October 16. Some things to look out for:

• Hosted at the old Snapchat Campus 👻

• On-site chef hand-tossing pizzas for attendees 🍕

• Hundreds of awesome founders and investors in attendance 🚀

- Arek and Ethan 🦄

Factory in a box

Creative 3D Technologies has redefined 3D printing with its “single-cell” manufacturing platforms, designed to replace the need for multiple specialized machines. Its all-in-one printers handle everything from small, high-precision prints to large, high-temperature jobs, as well as complex tasks like milling and embedding circuitry—all within a single system. Ideal for industries focused on optimizing supply chains, its technology appeals to government agencies, Fortune 500 companies, and sectors like automotive, oil, and gas, enabling on-demand production use cases without the need for extensive inventory or traditional supply chains.

🔗 Check it out: creative3dtechnologies.com

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💰 Business Model

Creative 3D operates on a modular business model, selling high-performance 3D printers with the option for customers to purchase additional upgrade modules to enhance their machine's capabilities over time. This approach allows users to extend the functionality and lifespan of their machines—estimated to last over 10 years—by integrating new technology, such as semiconductor manufacturing and improved precision modules, without needing to replace the entire system.

📈 Traction and Fundraising

• Existing production facility in Austin producing 4-5 units per month

• Gained traction in multiple industries and has clients that include Fortune 500 companies

📖 Founder Story

Ethan Baehrend, founder of Creative 3D, has always been entrepreneurial, a mindset encouraged by his family from a young age. His passion for technology started with custom computer systems and blossomed when he got his hands on a 3D printer. After breaking his first machine, Baehrend discovered he loved designing and improving the components more than the simple printing tasks. This curiosity led him to start refurbishing and upgrading printers at a time when the 3D printing industry was still niche. By 2017, after exiting his first business, he started Creative 3D.

💼 Opportunities

• Senior Production Operations Associate

• Senior Production Associate (firmware focused)

🔮 Our Analysis

When we kicked off our 2024 year of Unicorner covers, the spotlight was on "unsexy" industries—the ones that have been largely ignored for years while flashier sectors grabbed all the attention. 

Manufacturing is a prime example, having seen little real change in decades. If you ask Ethan Baehrend, the founder of Creative 3D, he’ll tell you it’s because of market collusion and a lack of competition, which have kept innovation at bay and allowed inefficiencies to linger. Traditional manufacturing methods rely on centralized production and multiple machines for different stages of assembly, driving up costs for materials, electricity, and warehousing. 

Creative 3D is tackling these challenges head-on, reimagining manufacturing with a vision that’s all about decentralization and flexibility. At the heart of Creative 3D's innovation is its all-in-one 3D printing platform. Instead of needing separate machines for every production task—whether it’s handling different materials, high-speed printing, or embedding circuitry—its system does it all. This modular approach allows businesses to scale more easily, adding or upgrading components as needed without the hefty overhead costs of traditional methods. Baehrend describes the platform as a Swiss Army Knife, and it’s an apt comparison: Creative 3D’s solution is more versatile, affordable, and capable than the sum of its competitors. And with this tech, companies could see dramatic reductions in production costs while boosting efficiency.

One of its biggest innovations is bringing semiconductor manufacturing into the 3D printing space, which is a game-changer as the industry faces rising demand but outdated hardware. Baehrend likens this to the issues AI is experiencing today, where data centers are bottlenecked by aging infrastructure. Creative 3D is ahead of the curve here, with next-gen semiconductor fabrication capabilities packed into one compact, powerful machine. As hardware catches up with the fast pace of software and AI, Creative 3D is preparing for a future where production happens in real-time, right where it’s needed.

That said, Baehrend knows change doesn’t happen overnight. Much like Amazon scaled its marketplace step by step, Creative 3D is gradually introducing its revolutionary "factory in a box". This approach lets businesses adopt the technology one phase at a time, easing them into the future of decentralized production. It’s the same logic as transitioning from horses to cars—you don’t introduce a modern car before bringing people the Model T. While 3D printing is still in its early stages, Creative 3D is taking the lead in this transformation, with the ultimate goal of making on-demand, decentralized production a reality for industries around the world.

📚 Further reading

• 30 Under 30 Honoree – Ethan Baehrend [Advanced Manufacturing]

Written by the editors

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