Neat infographic on 3D printing!

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Everything You Wanted to Know About 3D Printing But Were Too Afraid to Ask)

3D printing is a mind-blowing process, but you might be surprised to learn that it’s not a new technology. It was developed in the late ’80s and has been used extensively for prototyping. What’s new is that the technology is no longer reserved for big companies — in recent years, it has finally made the jump to the mainstream consumer market.

In 2007, some higher-ups at Philips Electronics had a hunch that people would be interested in being more involved in the products they buy. They decided that 3D printing could help them deliver that functionality. A few people in Philips’ in-house incubator approached a fellow employee, Peter Weijmarshausen, and asked whether he thought it was a viable business idea. “I was really intrigued. I thought, ‘How could this work? If we could really give the power of making whatever you want to everybody, that’s a game-shifter,” he recalls.

Weijmarshausen created a business plan for the first round of seed funding, built a prototype that was ready by February 2008, and launched Shapeways.com in July 2008. At launch, the machines only printed in plastic, but as the market grows and the technology matures, Shapeways is able to offer more materials and more affordable prices. Shapeways certainly isn’t the only player in the 3D printing spaces — there are dozens of companies in business around the world — but Shapeways is unique in that it’s a marketplace that is naturally more consumer-facing than its counterparts. With a more mainstream audience, Shapeways is tasked with making 3D printing approachable, understandable and affordable to everyday consumers. The company is backed by Union Square Ventures and Index Ventures, and has produced more than one million 3D-printed items since its inception.