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Evolve Additive Solutions

HardwareMinnetonka, United StatesFounded 2017· One of 1733 Hardware companies tracked by AMPulse

Evolve Additive Solutions provides a high-speed, automated additive manufacturing solution for producing polymer parts, positioned as a direct competitor to traditional injection molding for high-volume production.

CEO / Founder
Jeff Blank (appointed June 2024)
Team Size
51-200
Stage
Active
Total Funding
$49.7M
Latest Round
Series B
Key Investors
LEGO Brand Group (KIRKBI), Stanley Black & Decker (Stanley Ventures), Stratasys, 3D Ventures

Technology & Products

Key Products

STEP (Selective Thermoplastic Electrophotographic Process) Technology

Technological Advantage

The primary advantage is producing end-use parts at high volumes with isotropic properties comparable to injection molding, which significantly reduces the time and cost associated with tooling. This facilitates agile manufacturing, supply chain resilience, and faster time-to-market.

Patent position

Evolve filed 10 patent families in 2022–2024, down from 31 in 2019–2021, a 68% fall versus a 21% fall in tracked AM filings in the same patent offices. Equipment’s share rose from 90% to 100%. AMPulse analysis

Filing momentum
10 families filed 2022–2024, 31 in 2019–2021 (-68%); all tracked AM filings in the same offices -21%
Focus, 2019–2021 → 2022–2024
Equipment 90% → 100%
Filed in
US 45%WO 41%EP 14%
Named competitors, AM patent families
HP 16Carbon 124Stratasys 494

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

Differentiation

Value Proposition

Evolve's STEP technology uniquely combines the flexibility and speed of additive manufacturing with the quality, material properties, and cost-effectiveness of traditional high-volume manufacturing methods like injection molding.

How They Differentiate

Evolve differentiates itself by focusing on high-speed, high-volume production to directly compete with traditional injection molding in terms of part quality, cost, and throughput, rather than focusing only on prototyping or low-volume production.

Market & Competition

Target Customers

Manufacturers in industrial, automotive, consumer goods, and aerospace sectors seeking high-volume, production-quality thermoplastic parts without the long lead times and high costs of injection molding tooling.

Industry Verticals

Industrial, Automotive, Aerospace/Defense, Consumer Goods

Competitors

HP (Multi Jet Fusion); Carbon (DLS); Stratasys (SAF, FDM)

Growth & Milestones

Major Milestones

Spun off from Stratasys in 2017, Shipped first Alpha system to a strategic partner in 2018, Secured $19M in funding from major industry players in 2018, Formed strategic partnership with Siemens to advance automation, Launched STEP Parts Now on-demand service in 2023, Appointed Jeff Blank as CEO in June 2024

Notable Customers

Fathom Digital Manufacturing; alphacam GmbH (as a service partner)

https://evolveadditive.com

AM patents

AM-relevant patents linked to this company.

Patents
69
Granted
13
Families
69

Leading domains: process (69), equipment (54), material (6)

Filings by year: 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 18

  1. ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING USING OVERLAY FIDUCIAL FEATURE TEMPLATE MATCHING20250178275 · US
  2. COMPLIANT TRANSFUSION ROLLER FOR SELECTIVE DEPOSITION BASED ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING SYSTEM20200338825 · US
  3. ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING SYSTEM AND METHOD WITH IMPROVED STRUCTURE2023056036 · WO
  4. SELECTIVE LAYER DEPOSITION BASED ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING SYSTEM USING LASER NIP HEATING2021003165 · WO
  5. SELECTIVE LAYER DEPOSITION BASED ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING SYSTEM USING LASER NIP HEATING20220355547 · US

Funding rounds

  • Series B$30.0M2021-08-26Lead: 3D Ventures
  • Series A$19.0M2018-09-17Lead: LEGO Ventures
  • Seed$0.7M2018-03-09Lead: Stratasys

Why this company matters

AMPulse analysis, not a company disclosure

Evolve Additive Solutions positions its STEP (Selective Thermoplastic Electrophotographic Process) technology as a direct production alternative to injection molding for high-volume polymer parts. Spun off from Stratasys in 2017, the company focuses on throughput and part quality at scale, rather than prototyping or low-volume runs. Its core innovation adapts electrophotographic imaging—similar to a 2D laser printer—to build layers from thermoplastic powders, enabling high-speed, high-resolution printing with isotropic mechanical properties.

The STEP process is designed to eliminate the tooling cost and lead time of injection molding while matching its material properties and cost per part at production volumes. Evolve targets manufacturers in industrial, automotive, consumer goods, and aerospace/defense sectors. Notable service partners include Fathom Digital Manufacturing and alphacam GmbH, and the company launched a STEP Parts Now on-demand service in 2023 to offer production parts without upfront capital investment.

Evolve competes with HP's Multi Jet Fusion, Carbon's DLS, and Stratasys's SAF and FDM technologies, but differentiates by focusing on millions of end-use parts per year rather than low-to-mid volumes. Key partnerships with Siemens for automation and Evonik for materials support its production-ready positioning. The company raised $49.7M from investors including LEGO Brand Group, Stanley Black & Decker, Stratasys, and 3D Ventures. A key open question is whether STEP can achieve the cost-per-part parity with injection molding that it targets, especially as MJF and SAF continue to improve throughput.