The makers of the LulzBot 3D printers go from strength to strength: Aleph Objects had tripled their revenue in 2015, with new products to come in 2016.

Aleph Objects, the open source hardware company behind the LulzBot line of 3D printers, have announced a new range of LulzBot 3D printer hardware and filament materials, plus expanded distribution and updated software.

Based in Colarado, the company also disclosed that 2015 was their best year for revenue and their employee headcount has grown to one hundred.

The full set of announcements were made at their CES 2016 booth in Las Vegas, where the complete LulzBot portfolio of desktop 3D printing hardware, software, and materials were on display.

Exciting Times at Aleph Objects

On the hardware front, the LulzBot TAZ 3D printers will receive upgraded toolheads; firstly with the Dual Extruder Tool Head v2, now available for purchase, and then the FlexyDually Tool Head v2, which will be made available within the next few months.

Both allow for 3D printing 3mm filaments at temperatures as high as 300 degrees Celsius, which should make them be suitable for industrial materials and applications.

Elsewhere at their CES booth, attendees got to see colorFabb‘s nGen material made with Eastman Amphora AM 3300. ColorFabb Managing Director Ruud Rouleaux said about the material:

“The use of nGen runs the gamut of 3D-printed applications, ranging from prototyping to experimenting, and from designing to making serious money. Aleph Objects’ well-known and renowned brand of LulzBot 3D printers and colorFabb’s new special filament are a perfect match.”

There were advances on the software front too, with the the latest version of Cura LulzBot Edition software. This slicer software includes many new features, like the ability to pause during printing, and tested print profiles for six new materials. And as usual, Cura LulzBot Edition v18 is available to download completely free of cost.

Record-breaking Revenue

Aleph Objects also revealed that their line of LulzBot 3D printers made record-breaking gains in year-on-year revenue, tripling to $15 million in 2015.

They proudly credit their growth and success story to the open source hardware, advancing free software, and libre innovation that underpins their range. Aleph Objects Vice President of Marketing Harris Kenny said:

“In 2015, we validated for the public the Free Software, Libre Innovation, and Open Source Hardware business model. Our announcements at CES 2016 show that Aleph Objects’ collaborative approach respects user freedom, creates better products, and fuels rapid growth.”

Indeed, a recent Aleph Objects customer survey found that over half of their customers rank open source hardware as one of the key reasons they chose a LulzBot.

The final Aleph Objects announcement concerns the expansion of its international operations by opening a new fulfillment center in Australia, to better serve its growing global community. Open source 3D printing is a big hit down under and elsewhere in the region, it would appear.

Based on these solid foundations, 2016 looks set to be an exciting year for the company. Stay tuned for further developments!

Source: Business Wire