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adidas

ApplicationHerzogenaurach, GermanyFounded 1949· One of 686 Application companies tracked by AMPulse

Global sportswear manufacturer that pioneered mass-production 3D-printed footwear through its Futurecraft 4D line using Carbon's Digital Light Synthesis technology.

CEO / Founder
Bjørn Gulden
Team Size
10000+
Stage
Public
Total Funding
Publicly Traded
Latest Round
IPO
Key Investors
Publicly traded on Deutsche Börse (Frankfurt Stock Exchange, DAX index); OTC: ADDYY

Technology & Products

Key Products

Futurecraft 4D (first mass-market 3D-printed performance shoe, 2018); 4DFWD (anisotropic lattice midsole running shoe); Climacool (fully 3D-printed footwear franchise); 4D basketball shoes (bespoke 3D-printed for athletes)

Technological Advantage

Exclusive partnership with Carbon for Digital Light Synthesis (DLS) technology; ability to produce 3D-printed midsoles at volumes comparable to traditional manufacturing; integration of athlete biomechanical data into lattice design; proprietary EPU 41 material co-developed with Carbon.

Patent position

adidas filed 74 patent families across all years, compared with Nike’s 112. AMPulse analysis

Filing momentum
25 families filed 2022–2024, 18 in 2019–2021
Filed in
EP 43%US 42%CN 23%WO 5%
Named competitors, AM patent families
Nike 112

74 AM patent families in total. Recent years are still being published, so read a filing change against the same-office figure.

Differentiation

Value Proposition

adidas leverages additive manufacturing (Carbon's DLS technology) to produce high-performance, data-driven, customizable 3D-printed midsoles at industrial scale — bridging the gap between athlete-specific design and mass production.

How They Differentiate

adidas was first to market with mass-production-scale 3D-printed footwear (Futurecraft 4D), leveraging Carbon's faster DLS process vs. traditional SLA. Their 4DFWD midsole uses anisotropic lattice design tuned to convert vertical impact into forward motion — a biomechanically-driven differentiator.

Market & Competition

Target Customers

Athletes, runners, sneaker enthusiasts, and mass-market sportswear consumers seeking performance footwear with data-driven lattice midsole technology.

Industry Verticals

Sportswear/Footwear; Athletic Performance; Fashion/Lifestyle

Competitors

Nike (Flyprint, ZoomX 3D-printed prototypes); New Balance (TripleCell using Carbon DLS); Under Armour (Architech 3D-printed shoes)

Growth & Milestones

Growth Metrics

FY2024 revenue: €23.68B (11% YoY growth); ~59,000-65,000 employees; Market cap ~€25-31B (2025-2026)

Major Milestones

1949: Founded by Adolf "Adi" Dassler; 2017: Announced Futurecraft 4D partnership with Carbon; 2018: First consumer release of Futurecraft 4D; 2021: Launched 4DFWD with anisotropic lattice midsole; 2023: Bjørn Gulden appointed CEO; 2024: Revenue reached €23.68B

Notable Customers

Millions of consumers globally; elite athletes across running, basketball, soccer, and lifestyle segments

https://www.adidas-group.com

Recent coverage of adidas

Official records

Filings, certifications, and programme counts AMPulse can show for this company.

  • [F] Horizon / CORDIS · 1 AM awardProject records derived from CORDIS, the European Union research results portal, CC BY 4.0.
  • [F] Waste-Based Rapid Adhesive-free Production of Sports goods · 2015

AM patents

AM-relevant patents linked to this company.

Patents
99
Granted
35
Families
74

Leading domains: process (99), equipment (17), software (9)

Filings by year: 2025: 4 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 10 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 12

  1. Sole mold for manufacturing shoe sole107415098 · CN
  2. FOOTWEAR AND FOOTWEAR COMPONENTS HAVING A MESH COMPONENT04454884 · EP
  3. ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING FOOTWEAR120267084 · CN
  4. METHOD OF MAKING THREE-DIMENSIONAL OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING03600842 · EP
  5. LIQUID THERMOPLASTIC POLYMER APPLICATION FOR FOOTWEAR UPPERS4748262 · EP