Formlabs’ new 3D printer is poised to reshape manufacturing

Formlabs wants to make industrial 3D printing feel less like industrial 3D printing. The company has spent more than a decade building printers that make professional-grade prototyping cheaper and faster. With the Fuse X1, Formlabs is applying that playbook to larger industrial systems, where price, installation, and day-to-day operation have often kept the technology out of reach for smaller manufacturers and engineering teams. [Photo: Formlabs] The new machine is a selective laser sintering (SLS) printer built for manufacturers, engineering teams, product developers, and 3D printing service bureaus. The printer can turn out production-quality parts in less than 24 hours. (It starts at $84,999, is available for order today, and is expected to begin shipping in the fourth quarter of 2026.) For CEO Max Lobovsky, that price gap is central to the point. Formlabs, founded in 2011 out of MIT, has long tried to make 3D printing less expensive and easier to use. “The goal has always been make it easier to go from an idea to a real thing,” he says. The Fuse X1 is also a statement about where Formlabs thinks 3D printing is headed. The company helped popularize professional desktop 3D printing and has since expanded into automation, materials, dental applications, industrial prototyping, and production. (Fast Company named Formlabs one of its Most Innovative Companies in manufacturing in 2024.) [Photo: Formlabs] Now Formlabs is trying to push that same logic into a bigger, pricier, and more demanding part of manufacturing. The company says it has about 700 employees and more than $250 million in annual revenue, and has been profitable for more than two years. It has also raised significant venture backing, including a $150 million SoftBank-led Series E in 2021 that valued the company at $2 billion, with earlier investors including New Enterprise Associates, Foundry, and Autodesk. Its customers have printed more than 500 million parts using Formlabs printers and materials. Ear