Maltese 3D print farm Invent 3D said its business has not been affected after a separate company sharing the same co-founder lost out on a €217,000 grant following the collapse of an EU-funded body.
In an official statement, Invent 3D clarified that although ELM Fabrication was also co-founded by David Sciberras and also operates in the 3D printing space, they are separate companies which have no bearing on each other’s business.
It also confirmed that, although the EU-funded body collapsed, ELM Fabrication managed to secure angel investors to finalise the production and commercialisation of Malta’s largest 3D printer.
“You've met Dave. Where there's 3D Printing, he's there. Invent 3D is doing well, growing internationally, with a team of 16,” the company said.
“Even though the EU funding body is out of business, ELM Fabrication, managed to secure angel investors to finalise the production and commercialisation of the largest 3D Printer in Malta at 2m x 2m x 6m. We're here to stay. All of us.”
ELM Fabrication Ltd, founded by Ing. Sciberras and fellow engineer Nicholas Borg Calleja, has developed a large 3D printing model capable of 3D printing everything from boats to furniture out of recycled plastic.
Seeing its potential to provide low-cost competition to more traditional manufacturers, the company secured an initial €217,000 in funding (70 per cent of the cost) from EIT Manufacturing (EITM) – an innovation communities funded by the EU’s European Institute of Innovation and Technology – to bring the technology to market.
However, EITM ended up filing for liquidation after EIT suspended millions of euro in payments to it following an investigation by the EU’s anti-fraud office OLAF which found irregularities in EITM’s financial reporting. As a result, the funding that was promised to the Maltese 3D printing firm, along with several other European startups, didn’t materialise.
Mr Sciberras told WhosWho.mt that while other European startups had to file for bankruptcy after this sudden loss of funding, ELM’s strategic decision to keep its operations lean meant it was able to ride the wave.
ELM is now raising an equity round to take its 3D printer to market, and the new projected launch date for the full machine has been set to the fourth quarter of the year.
