Alphasense
Develops specialty 3D printing resins (castable, ceramic) and a resin-based DLP printer, enabling jewelry casting and ceramic part production; also performs NASA-funded R&D on gradient metal alloy additive manufacturing.
- Team Size
- 1-10
- Stage
- Active
- Total Funding
- $749,909
- Latest Round
- Grant
- Key Investors
- NASA
Technology & Products
Key Products
Castable 3D printing resin (wax-containing for clean burnout); 3D ceramic resin for SLA, LCD and DLP printers; Standard 3D printing resins; Resin-based top-down 3D DLP printer; Low-cost printed circuit board (PCB) prototyping ink/printer
Technological Advantage
Proprietary broad-band photocurable resin chemistry enables both castable (wax-containing) and ceramic-loaded resins for SLA/LCD/DLP printers, with validation through NASA SBIR Phase I/II for fabricating gradient metal alloy structures (contract NNX16CP82C, $749,909). The specific resin formulations are likely trade secrets; no patent data is disclosed.
Differentiation
Value Proposition
Provides cost-effective castable and ceramic resins for standard SLA/LCD/DLP printers, reducing jewelry casting and ceramic prototyping costs by eliminating the need for dedicated high-end printing systems; NASA-validated resin chemistry for advanced applications.
How They Differentiate
Unlike Formlabs' integrated resin-printer ecosystem, AlphaSense focuses on specialty niche resins—castable resin with wax content for clean burnout in jewelry casting and ceramic resin with fine powder loading—that run on standard SLA/LCD/DLP machines, offering a lower-cost materials-only approach.
Market & Competition
Target Customers
Jewelry casters, ceramic part manufacturers, electronics prototyping labs, and aerospace researchers
Industry Verticals
Jewelry; Ceramics; Aerospace; Electronics
Competitors
Formlabs; Siraya Tech; Photocentric
Growth & Milestones
Major Milestones
NASA SBIR Phase I award for novel 3D printer for gradient metal alloy structures (2015); NASA SBIR Phase II contract NNX16CP82C valued at $749,909 (2016); co-owner Pengcheng Lv pleaded guilty (2020) to wire fraud for false representations in federal grant proposals/reports to DOE, USAF, Navy, Army, DARPA, NSF and NASA spanning 2008-2016, incl. forged endorsement letters and 'ghost employees'; agreed to $700,000 False Claims Act civil settlement (sentencing set 11/16/2020, D. Del.)