Airwolf 3D, the Costa Mesa startup that’s shaken up the nascent 3-D printing industry, has hired its first executive as the manufacturer aims to scale the business and attract venture capital funding.
Naming industry veteran Mark Mathews president highlights a significant transition for the bootstrapped company as it expands production and hiring for its next stage of growth.
“Bringing Mark on board will help Airwolf 3D realize its potential quicker,” said cofounder Erick Wolf, who launched the company with his wife, Eva, about two years ago.
Mathews brings executive leadership and deep industry and fundraising connections to Airwolf, the type of high-tech company he wanted to join after a long run at one of OC’s most established companies.
“This industry is in its infancy,” said Mathews, who spent 20 years at Irvine-based Toshiba America Business Services Inc. “It’s the Wild West right now.”
And Airwolf is at the frontier of one of the most watched segments in technology. The potential applications of 3-D printing vary wildly, ranging from single-story home manufacturing in China to making chocolate desserts.
The company has already made a name for itself in the industry, outpacing competitors and attracting high acclaim for its products, as it became one of the fastest-growing companies in the sector.
Airwolf’s machines, primarily used in industrial and manufacturing settings, can make a variety of products, including screwdrivers, bolts, fasteners, plugs, food containers, toys and sculptures.
Mathews is leaving the consultancy he launched about a year ago following his resignation from the chief executive post at Toshiba’s U.S. printing equipment and services business, which is among OC’s largest private companies, with about $1 billion in annual sales.
“I was looking for a new opportunity in the high-tech B2B space—this is just a perfect fit,” he said. “They’re in a very hot space, and they want to grow really quickly.”
Growth
Two-year-old Airwolf has grown from a two-person team designing 3-D printers in the couple’s Corona del Mar kitchen to selling nearly 200 units a month from its new 15,000-square-foot headquarters, the company’s third home in the past 12 months, as demand outpaced production space.
It now employs about 30 people and plans to double that figure in the next year.
Airwolf stands to benefit in an industry that already has an estimated $1 billion in annual worldwide sales and that’s expected to explode in the coming years.
The company’s latest high-definition model, dubbed AW3D HD, sells for about $3,000 and is commonly used for modeling and prototypes.
Customers
“3-D printing is revolutionizing manufacturing,” Mathews said.
Airwolf’s growing list of customers includes Irvine-based heart valve maker Edwards Lifesciences Corp., equipment maker Caterpillar Inc., and aerospace manufacturers United Technologies Corp. and Honeywell International Inc.
Scaling the business and attracting venture capital is the next big hurdle facing the company as it squares off against a bevy of new players and a handful of established companies, most notably Brooklyn, N.Y.-based MakerBot Industries, which was founded in 2009 and acquired last year for $403 million by Stratasys Ltd., a publicly traded company in Minneapolis that specializes in industrial 3-D printers.
Mathews said he’s confident Airwolf will secure its first institutional funding round within 90 days.
The company hasn’t settled on a fundraising goal because it hasn’t finalized its business plan.
“I don’t know how much, but it will be in the millions,” Mathews said. “It will be a fairly significant number and in multiple rounds.”
