Mimaki
Manufactures full-color UV inkjet 3D printers with over 10 million colors for high-resolution industrial modeling.
- CEO / Founder
- Kazuaki Ikeda
- Team Size
- 1001-5000
- Stage
- Public
- Total Funding
- Publicly Traded
- Latest Round
- IPO
- Key Investors
- Publicly traded on Tokyo Stock Exchange (Ticker: 6638)
Technology & Products
Key Products
Wide-format inkjet printers, cutting plotters, 3D printers (e.g., 3DUJ-553 material jetting technology), textile printers, DTF printers, and related software.
Technological Advantage
Proprietary UV inkjet technology for high-resolution color accuracy; established global distribution in 150 countries.
Patent position
Mimaki filed 34 families in 2022-2024, down from 60 in 2019-2021 (-43%), a steeper drop than tracked AM filings in the same patent offices (-12%), and it still trails Roland DG's 107 total families. Material jetting's share of its filings fell from 91% to 63% while equipment focus held dominant at 97%. AMPulse analysis
- Filing momentum
- 34 families filed 2022–2024, 60 in 2019–2021 (-43%); all tracked AM filings in the same offices -12%
- Process mix, 2019–2021 → 2022–2024
- Material jetting 91% → 63%
- Focus, 2019–2021 → 2022–2024
- Equipment 90% → 97%
- Filed in
- JP 31%US 22%EP 22%WO 16%CN 10%
- Named competitors, AM patent families
- Roland DG 107
199 AM patent families in total. Recent years are still being published, so read a filing change against the same-office figure.
Differentiation
Value Proposition
Enables production of high-resolution 3D models with over 10 million colors, eliminating the need for manual painting.
How They Differentiate
Offers high-quality, versatile, and innovative printing solutions, including over 10 million colors, integrated workflows, and advanced technologies like Mimaki Fine Diffusion 1 (MFD1) and Mimaki Intelligent Heaters (MIH). They also integrate AI-generated 3D models for full-color figure production.
Market & Competition
Target Customers
Industrial designers and manufacturers requiring high-fidelity color prototypes.
Industry Verticals
Signage; Textiles; Industrial Printing; 3D Printing
Competitors
Roland DG, Epson, Graphtec Corporation, Mutoh
Growth & Milestones
Growth Metrics
Steady expansion pre-COVID, stalled during pandemic; global expansion to 150 countries.
Major Milestones
1975: Founded; 1987: World's first eccentric cutting plotter; 1996: World's first water-based pigment inkjet printer; 2015: Tokyo Stock Exchange First Section listing; 2017: World's first full-color UV LED 3D inkjet printer
Notable Customers
Harrisons Signs, Marushou Mizuhiki
Recent coverage of Mimaki
- Mimaki 3D prints 350 limited-edition miniature golf bag collectibles for Cleeks Golf Club3dprint.com
- Mimaki 3D prints full-color limited-edition golf collector models for LIV Golf Tour 20263druck.com
- Crewe Alexandra FC uses Mimaki 3DUJ-2207 3D printer to produce miniature of club captain for kit launch campaignvoxelmatters.com
- Mimaki Engineering Co., Ltd., headquartered in Nagano, Japan, has released a software update for its 3D Print workflow s...3druck.com
- Mimaki Global has demonstrated the integration of AI-generated 3D models with its 3DUJ-553 material jetting system to pr...voxelmatters.com
AM patents
AM-relevant patents linked to this company.
- Patents
- 205
- Granted
- 64
- Families
- 199
Leading domains: process (205), equipment (150), software (23)
Filings by year: 2025: 1 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 22
- SHAPING APPARATUS AND SHAPING METHOD110587976 · CN
- THREE-DIMENSIONAL OBJECT MANUFACTURING METHOD AND THREE-DIMENSIONAL OBJECT20200391444 · US
- SHAPING DEVICE AND SHAPING METHOD109153171 · CN
- manufacturing systems and programs7217641 · JP
- MANUFACTURING METHOD AND SHAPING APPARATUS FOR SHAPED OBJECT20180207860 · US
Funding rounds
- IPO2000-11Source: Training Knowledge