Continuous Composites

Continuous Composites is a developer of 3D printers, software, and materials for additive manufacturing (AM). The company has developed a proprietary Continuous Fiber 3D Printing (CF3D) technology, which is driven by proprietary software. The technology uses a continuous dry fiber material and a robotic arm to deposit dry fibers, which are then hardened using a UV light. CF3D can be configured and scaled depending on the customer application. It uses polymer matrix materials that are tailorable for mechanical properties and also allows the user to create unlimited material combinations. The company had received 122 US patents (allowed) and 44 international patents (granted) as of January 2024.

Key customers and partnerships

Continuous Composites partnered with French materials company Arkema (2019) to integrate technologies and with Siemens to leverage the latter’s numeric contƒroller technology for CF3D. The technology has also been used to 3D print power generation components for Siemens Energy. The company also collaborated with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the US Department of Defense (DoD) to 3D print parts for unmanned aircraft and was commissioned by NASA in June 2022 to develop low-coefficient thermal expansion (CTE) open isogrid composite structures for space applications.

In October 2023, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign purchased a Continuous Composites printer to advance its research and education programs. 

Funding and financials

In July 2021, Continuous Composites raised USD 17 million in Series A funding to provide the company with growth capital to commercialize its products and expand the patent portfolio.