Wayland Additive Limited announces the close of a £4.6 million funding round, with backing from existing investors Longwall Ventures, Parkwalk Advisors and ACF Investors. Strategic investor Metrea Discovery joins the round as a new supporter of the business. Wayland is a West Yorkshire based company pushing the boundaries of electron beam 3D printing with systems that can work faster and with greater precision than existing laser-based technologies.

Wayland manufactures and sells the Calibur3 metal additive manufacturing (“AM”, otherwise known as 3D printing) machines to end-users who require high precision and complex components (often made from advanced metal alloys) in areas such as the aerospace, mining, and medical industries. The Calibur3 features the Neubeam® process which delivers on all of the advantages of metal electron beam (eBeam) technology, while overcoming the troublesome issues that have traditionally limited wider adoption. Wayland’s customers include the RAF (UK), and Exergy Solutions (Canada) with the next shipments starting in May to North America, Europe and beyond.

Wayland’s machines allow customers to print highly specialised ‘super materials’, like the world’s hardest steel or tungsten, remotely and on demand. This eradicates the issue of downtime caused by spare part shortages, allowing organisations to create exactly what they need, in the right quantities and at the right time. These materials, which can be used in high temperature and high wear applications, also enable the development of new downstream technologies in a wide range of industries.

Wayland draws upon Yorkshire’s strong heritage in metallurgy, offering a local supply base for the business as well as the ability to recruit from a talent base already well equipped with manufacturing engineering skills.

Wayland will use the funding to increase its in-house production capability to deliver more machines and materials to customers. On the continuum between ‘make to order’ and ‘buy off-the-shelf ‘ the company is moving significantly towards the latter through a concerted focus on mitigating supply chain issues, which should reduce order to delivery to a matter of a couple of months. The investment will also go towards further hiring, in particular the recruitment of a COO, as well as supporting further research and development.

Will Richardson, CEO Wayland Additive said: “Since our last funding round, we have formally launched our machines into the market and are already seeing considerable traction, with demand from across the globe. By providing bespoke additive manufacturing to our customers, we can play a pivotal role in streamlining their operations and give them the tools to unlock their potential, with high value components at the touch of a button. It’s great to have our existing investors continuing to support us as we grow, as well as new strategic investor Metrea. We are excited by the prospect of bringing our machines to businesses who need them around the world and this investment will supercharge that mission.”

Tim Mills, Managing Partner at ACF Investors commented: “Wayland continues to move from strength to strength and is a leading light of Yorkshire’s business community. Through its machines, Wayland is pioneering the next generation of additive manufacturing, opening up new applications and unlocking new materials. We are delighted to be continuing to support this ingenious team on the next stage of their growth journey. Their leadership in the market is well earned.”

David Denny, Partner at Longwall Ventures added: “We are delighted to continue supporting the Wayland team – their ingenuity and hard work has resulted in a great product. The Wayland product enables customers to 3D print objects in materials that were not previously possible, and it is great to see this technology now being used by customers. We also appreciate having ACF Investors as co-investors because they have been pragmatic and supportive from day one.”