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Fluent Metal

HardwareWoburn, Massachusetts, USAFounded 2020· One of 1733 Hardware companies tracked by AMPulse

Developing a drop-on-demand liquid metal printing process that uses wire feedstock to create high-density, pure metal parts without metal powders or lasers.

CEO / Founder
Peter Schmitt
Team Size
1-10
Stage
Active
Total Funding
$5.5M
Latest Round
Seed
Key Investors
E15 VC, Pillar VC, Bhansali Equities

Technology & Products

Key Products

Production-grade liquid metal 3D printing technology for more functional, sustainable, and economical metal parts.

Technological Advantage

The technology enables printing of fully dense parts from a wide range of metals with minimal post-processing. It boasts lower energy consumption, reduced material waste, and lower facility costs as it doesn't require specialized powder handling equipment or safety measures associated with lasers.

Patent position

Fluent Metal filed 3 patent families in 2022–2024, down from 5 in 2019–2021, a 40% fall versus a 17% fall in tracked AM filings in the same patent offices. AMPulse analysis

Filing momentum
3 families filed 2022–2024, 5 in 2019–2021 (-40%); all tracked AM filings in the same offices -17%
Filed in
WO 50%US 30%EP 20%
Named competitors, AM patent families
Desktop Metal 83Velo3D 75

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

Differentiation

Value Proposition

To provide a safer, more sustainable, and accessible metal 3D printing solution with low setup costs, minimal waste, and the versatility to print with a wide range of metals in a single-step process.

How They Differentiate

Fluent Metal differentiates itself by completely avoiding metal powders and lasers, which are central to its main competitors' technologies. This results in a fundamentally different approach focused on safety, cost-effectiveness, and material diversity, as opposed to the established methods of binder jetting (Desktop Metal) or laser powder bed fusion (Velo3D).

Market & Competition

Target Customers

Manufacturing companies in industrial, aerospace, and automotive sectors requiring high-performance, cost-effective metal parts for production and prototyping.

Industry Verticals

Industrial Manufacturing, Aerospace/Defense, Automotive

Competitors

Desktop Metal, Velo3D

Growth & Milestones

Growth Metrics

Fluent Metal was named '2024 Startup of the Year' by 3Dnatives in a public vote in early January 2025, winning with 493 out of 2,119 votes.

Major Milestones

Founded in June 2020., Emerged from stealth mode in March 2024., Secured a total of $5.5M in funding, with the latest seed round of $3.2M announced in March 2024., Named Startup of the Year 2024 by 3Dnatives.

https://www.fluentmetal.com

AM patents

AM-relevant patents linked to this company.

Patents
10
Granted
1
Families
10

Leading domains: equipment (10), process (10), material (8)

Filings by year: 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 2

  1. METAL DEPOSITION SYSTEM2026015466 · WO
  2. METAL DROPLET DEPOSITION SYSTEM04436737 · EP
  3. Metal deposition system20250135582 · US
  4. Metal droplet deposition system20250010371 · US
  5. METAL DROPLET DEPOSITION SYSTEM2023091782 · WO

Funding rounds

  • Seed VC$3.2M2024-03-14Lead: E15 VC
  • Seed VC$2.3M2023-05-12Lead: E15 VC

Why this company matters

AMPulse analysis, not a company disclosure

Fluent Metal is developing a drop-on-demand liquid metal printing process that uses wire feedstock to create high-density, pure metal parts without metal powders or lasers. Founded in 2020 and based in Woburn, Massachusetts, the company emerged from stealth in March 2024 with $5.5 million in total funding from E15 VC, Pillar VC, and Bhansali Equities. Its approach targets a gap in metal additive manufacturing for a safer, more sustainable alternative to laser powder bed fusion and binder jetting.

The core technology deposits molten metal in a single-step, powder-free and laser-free process. By using wire feedstock and a drop-on-demand system, Fluent Metal eliminates the need for specialized powder handling equipment and laser safety measures. The process produces fully dense parts from a wide range of metals with minimal post-processing, lower energy consumption, and reduced material waste compared to conventional metal AM methods.

Fluent Metal targets manufacturing companies in industrial, aerospace, defense, and automotive sectors that require high-performance, cost-effective metal parts for both production and prototyping. The company differentiates from competitors like Desktop Metal and Velo3D by completely avoiding metal powders and lasers, focusing instead on safety, cost-effectiveness, and material diversity. CEO Peter Schmitt, a co-founder and former chief designer at Desktop Metal, holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from MIT.

In early January 2025, Fluent Metal was named '2024 Startup of the Year' by 3Dnatives in a public vote, winning 493 out of 2,119 votes. The company's key open question is whether its drop-on-demand liquid metal process can scale to production volumes and compete on throughput with established powder bed fusion and binder jetting systems in its target industrial and aerospace applications.