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DDM Systems

Hardware1876 Defoor Ave NW, Suite 3, Atlanta, GA 30318, USAFounded 2012· One of 1636 Hardware companies tracked by AMPulse

DDM Systems manufactures complex metal components using advanced 3D printing technologies, specifically LAMP and SLE, optimized for investment casting and ceramics.

CEO / Founder
Suman Das
Team Size
11-50
Stage
Active
Total Funding
$19M
Latest Round
Series A
Key Investors
10X Capital, 1955 Capital, Gaingels, Khosla Ventures, Georgia Research Alliance

Technology & Products

Key Products

LAMP technology, SLE technology, DirectPour process

Technical position · AMPulse analysis

Significantly reduces production costs and lead times while enhancing the quality of complex metal components.

Differentiation

Value Proposition

Revolutionizes investment casting and ceramics production by reducing lead times and costs through proprietary 3D printing technologies.

How They Differentiate

Distinct focus on proprietary 3D printing processes for producing ceramic molds and investment casting components, offering improved efficiency and cost benefits.

Market & Competition

Target Customers

Industries requiring complex metal components and advanced investment casting solutions

Industry Verticals

Investment Casting, Ceramics, Additive Manufacturing

Competitors

Lithoz

Growth & Milestones

Growth Metrics

Not publicly detailed

Major Milestones

Nominated for the 2016 Hermes Award at Hannover Messe, 2020 partnership with Signicast, 2022 GE-DDM team wins $3.3M ARPA-E funding, 2023 Joins America Makes as Silver Member, 2024 ITAR registration and Defense Industrial Base Consortium membership, 2025 Awarded America Makes IMPACT 2.0 Part B project, 2026 Launched commercial Digital Foundry platform integrating LAMP, DirectPour and SLE for investment casting, 2026 Awarded $4.5M America Makes IMPACT 3.0 project funding

Notable Customers

GE Gas Power, Signicast, Tinker Air Force Base (US Air Force)

https://www.ddmsys.com

Recent coverage of DDM Systems

AM patents

AM-relevant patents linked to this company.

Patents
10
Granted
0
Families
9

Leading domains: process (9), equipment (7), material (2)

Filings by year: 2019: 1 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 1 · 2012: 5

  1. CASTING TECHNIQUES, CASTS, AND THREE-DIMENSIONAL PRINTING SYSTEMS AND METHODS2019161299 · WO
  2. SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FABRICATING THREE-DIMENSIONAL OBJECTS02917012 · EP
  3. CASTING TECHNIQUES, CASTS, AND THREE-DIMENSIONAL PRINTING SYSTEMS AND METHODS112166023 · CN
  4. CASTING TECHNIQUES, CASTS, AND THREE-DIMENSIONAL PRINTING SYSTEMS AND METHODS20200376775 · US
  5. CASTING TECHNIQUES, CASTS, AND THREE-DIMENSIONAL PRINTING SYSTEMS AND METHODS03752332 · EP

Funding rounds

  • Grant$4.5M2026-06-02Lead: America Makes
  • Grant$0.5M2023-11-08Lead: America Makes
  • Seed$19.0M2012-01-01Lead: 10X Capital

Why this company matters

AMPulse analysis, not a company disclosure

DDM Systems occupies a narrow but critical niche in additive manufacturing: replacing traditional wax-pattern investment casting with direct 3D printing of ceramic molds and cores. Founded in 2012 and based in Atlanta, the company targets foundries and aerospace suppliers that need complex metal parts without the long lead times and tooling costs of conventional casting processes.

The company's core technologies are LAMP (Large Area Maskless Photopolymerization) and SLE (Scanning Laser Epitaxy), both optimized for ceramics and composites. LAMP uses a vat photopolymerization (VPP) approach to build ceramic molds layer by layer, while SLE enables the production of dense metal components directly. The DirectPour process integrates these methods to produce finished castings from printed ceramic shells, eliminating pattern-making and reducing overall cycle times.

DDM Systems serves industries that require intricate, high-temperature metal components, including aerospace, defense, and industrial gas turbines. Its customers benefit from the ability to produce complex internal geometries—such as cooling channels in turbine blades—that are difficult or impossible to achieve with traditional investment casting. The company has partnered with Georgia Tech on technology development and was nominated for the 2016 Hermes Award at Hannover Messe.

Backed by investors including Khosla Ventures, 10X Capital, and 1955 Capital, DDM Systems has raised $19 million in total funding. Its primary competitor is Lithoz, which also focuses on ceramic AM for casting applications. DDM's differentiation lies in its proprietary LAMP and SLE processes, which are purpose-built for investment casting rather than adapted from polymer or metal systems. The key open question is whether the company can scale production throughput to compete with high-volume foundry methods while maintaining the precision that its target applications demand.