3D printing startup Apis Cor, which has its roots in Moscow but is now based in San Francisco, recently announced $6 million in funding from the Russian venture fund Rusnano Sistema Sica. The company touts its robotic 3D printer as able to print a 100-square-meter house in just 24 hours.
Founded by engineer Nikita Chen-yun-tai, who was recently hailed by Russian broadcaster RBC as a “hero of tomorrow,” Apis Cor’s printer is the size of an SUV, has its own horizontal stabilizers to print level on rough topography, and prints each house using a fine grain of fiber-reinforced concrete. But the twist is the printer sits inside of the house being printed and isn’t assembled from the outside. According to Apis Cor, this allows the house to be printed more quickly without time-consuming assembly of other types of 3D printers on site.
Apis Cor’s technology promises to 3D print houses up to 3 stories tall and, potentially, 20 to 30 percent more cheaply than traditional foam concrete houses. Globally, the low-rise housing market is $68 billion; 3D printing is projected to capture 30 percent of that market over time. So it shouldn’t be surprising that venture capital is attracted to it, and we expect much more activity in the 3D printing space during 2018.
The company plans to use the funds to expand its 3D-printing network by “several dozens” and projects tens of millions of dollars in revenue in 2018. Stay tuned – but in the meantime, check out the following video of Apis Cor’s 3D printer in action.
