Customers from industry and science on five continents are now benefiting from the fastest high-resolution 2PP 3D printer on the market. In parallel to meeting this demand, the company continued to introduce innovative features and new materials for 2PP 3D printing. The development of the innovations was initiated by specific customer requirements and fulfilled with the high flexibility that has become UpNano's trademark. Due to the increasing demand and growth of the innovation pipeline, the company's facilities in the EU and the US have been expanded and new employees have been hired. This puts the company in a unique position to serve the global 2PP 3D printing market, which increasingly requires high-speed, high-precision industrial manufacturing.

For many companies, 2023 was a particularly challenging year. But few faced challenges as gratifying as UpNano's: meeting an extraordinary growth in demand for its high-performance 2PP 3D printers, while introducing innovative printing features and new materials eagerly anticipated by industrial and academic customers alike, and expanding the company's facilities in the EU and US. In fact, global demand for the innovation leader's soon-to-be-expanded NanoOne printer series - the fastest high-resolution 2PP 3D printer on the market - has resulted in a 57% increase in sales, a tripling of machines in operation in the U.S. and customers on five continents.

Ahead of the competition

Bernhard Küenburg, CEO of UpNano, comments: "The competition in the market for 2PP 3D printers is getting tougher every year. We are very proud that our NanoOne series of compact desktop printers continues to lead the way. It remains the fastest high-resolution 3D printing platform on the market, capable of printing over an unprecedented scale range of 15 orders of magnitude. These specifications are being requested by more and more companies and institutions worldwide. We are constantly learning from these demands and remain committed to providing our customers with customized and flexible solutions."

In 2023, this commitment led to the launch of Hydrotech INX© U200 (developed in collaboration with materials specialist BIO INX), a bio-printing material that, when combined with other biocompatible materials such as Hydrobio INX© U200, offers cellular interactivity, enabling bio-printed constructs of unprecedented complexity. Another UpNano highlight in 2023 was the launch of the latest software upgrade for all NanoOne printers. This adds the functionality of smart stitching, which improves the quality of the end product and further increases the already high printing speed. In addition, several completely different print jobs with the same lens and the same material can now be combined into one, saving costs and production time.

Challenged and relaxed

"Meeting the ever-increasing demand and bringing the latest developments from our R&D department to the market while expanding our locations in Vienna and Boston has been a challenge," says Denise Hirner, COO of UpNano, "but the increasing sales and the continued support and confidence of all our investors have allowed us to fully focus on these challenges and overcome them with the highest possible quality."

It is equally important to UpNano to promote the exchange of knowledge with and between NanoOne customers, both on a scientific and practical level. This is why the company is once again inviting all NanoOne printer owners to the annual "UpNano Customer Event" in June at its headquarters in Vienna. There they can get to know all the products and new developments, the new clean room and an additional analysis laboratory with state-of-the-art equipment for material and component analysis. They can also exchange ideas with the growing number of UpNano experts, including experienced material specialists from all over the world, and take the opportunity to talk to other customers from various industries. Last year's event attracted visitors from all over the world, from the west coast of the USA to Australia. "In addition to expanding our facilities at our headquarters, we have also expanded our facilities in Boston, USA," adds Bernhard Küenburg. "This has become necessary because the interest in NanoOne printers there has far exceeded our expectations. We have tripled the number of devices sold within a year and can continue to meet all inquiries".

Given the increasing demand for high speed and precision in industrial production, UpNano has also initiated a market study for the year 2023. The study focuses on the US market and identifies several areas of particular interest to UpNano, as there are many unmet customer needs there that can be fulfilled by micro 3D printing. These include microfluidics, heat exchangers, the entire semiconductor industry and implantable devices, particularly in interventional cardiology.

All in all, UpNano seems to be well equipped for another successful year. A year in which new materials will be launched (to be presented at SPIE. Photonics West 2024 and MD&M West, California, at the end of the month), software upgrades are planned and another member will join the highly successful NanoOne printer series.