Two weeks after landing almost $1 million from a European angel investor, 3Dprintler.com is looking to share some of that wealth.
The Ottawa-based search engine for the 3D printing industry announced Thursday it is launching a $100,000 pre-seed early investment fund in an attempt to help would-be tech entrepreneurs develop new projects.
“We are looking for new blood and talent at 3Dprintler. We will invest $5K to $25K per company to help you validate the idea and develop a minimal viable product (MVP) and join the 3Dprintler ecosystem,” the company wrote on its blog.
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The firm says it is targeting the 3D printing, 3D scanning, virtual reality, augmented reality, robotics, artificial intelligence and bots sectors.
“For example, somebody with an algorithm to move 3D files more efficiently,” CEO Michael Golubev said. “I’m sure there’s somebody out there who’s trying to figure out how to make this into a business. By joining our ecosystem, we can do it together.”
Mr. Golubev says the new fund is just another example of how the firm does things differently.
“It’s basically like saying ‘Hey! We’re hiring,’” he said.
The company doesn’t hold back on its blog when discussing how difficult it can be for early-stage companies to get funding.
“We went through hard times, looking for support and funding from the Canadian government, and we know first hand that it is one of the toughest things to do, especially when you need to make big decisions quickly but you’re forced to deal with a slow and highly inefficient bureaucratic system, packed with people who do not even understand today’s most important technologies,” it said.
