Kurtz Ersa
Develops industrial metal 3D printers like the Alpha 140 and Flying Ray for cost-effective entry into metallic additive manufacturing.
- CEO / Founder
- Thomas Mühleck
- Team Size
- 1001-5000
- Stage
- Active
- Key Investors
- Family-owned (7th generation)
Technology & Products
Key Products
Offers customized solutions across three business segments: Electronics Production Equipment (stencil printers, soldering machines), Moulding Machines (particle foam processing, casting solutions), and Automation (battery production, wind power, heating systems). Also develops industrial metal 3D printers like the Alpha 140 and Flying Ray.
Technological Advantage
Proprietary vertically incident laser technology and a 'plug-and-print' approach that reduces the complexity and cost of metal AM for SMEs.
Patent position
Kurtz Ersa filed 14 patent families across all years, versus 1 for IQ evolution and 34 for ARBURG. AMPulse analysis
- Filing momentum
- 7 families filed 2022–2024, 7 in 2019–2021 (0%); all tracked AM filings in the same offices -25%
- Focus, 2019–2021 → 2022–2024
- Materials 100% → 100%Equipment 100% → 100%
- Filed in
- EP 43%WO 29%US 29%
- Named competitors, AM patent families
- IQ evolution 1ARBURG 34
14 AM patent families in total. Recent years are still being published, so read a filing change against the same-office figure.
Differentiation
Value Proposition
Provides a low-cost entry point to metal 3D printing by combining simplified operation with industrial-grade reliability and a global service network.
How They Differentiate
Focuses on 'low system costs' and 'simple operation' compared to high-end incumbents like EOS, while offering the stability of a 200+ year old engineering firm.
Market & Competition
Target Customers
SMEs and industrial manufacturers looking for entry-level metal AM solutions.
Industry Verticals
Aerospace; Automotive; Medical; Tooling/Mold Making
Competitors
MetShape, IQ evolution, Arburg
Growth & Milestones
Growth Metrics
The group reports annual sales of over €250 million; AM division launched in 2020.
Major Milestones
2020: Launch of Alpha 140; 2021: Partnership with LMI; 2023: Appointment of Dr. Astrid Rota as MD of AM
Notable Customers
Miele, Trumpf
AM patents
AM-relevant patents linked to this company.
- Patents
- 14
- Granted
- 1
- Families
- 14
Leading domains: equipment (14), material (14), process (14)
Filings by year: 2023: 4 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 2
- DEVICE, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CALIBRATING A LASER DEVICE2023161223 · WO
- APPARATUS FOR ADDITIVELY MANUFACTURING COMPONENTS, IN PARTICULAR BY MEANS OF SELECTIVE MELTING OR SINTERING04126424 · EP
- APPARATUS FOR ADDITIVELY MANUFACTURING COMPONENTS2023111363 · WO
- APPARATUS FOR ADDITIVELY MANUFACTURING COMPONENTS2025026778 · WO
- DEVICE AND METHOD FOR THE DIRECTED APPLICATION OF GAS TO A BUILD SPACE FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING2024223592 · WO
Funding rounds
- Grant$0.06M2024-01Source: North Data - 2024
Equipment deals on record
Publicly disclosed purchases or installs only.
- 3D-Drucker Metall
1 systems · EUR 213,057.6
Buyer: Handwerkskammer für Unterfranken · Supplier: Kurtz GmbH & Co. KG