VBN Components

MaterialsUppsala, SwedenFounded 2008· One of 1019 Materials companies tracked by AMPulse

Produces 3D-printed wear and heat-resistant metal components (Vibenite® materials) with extreme hardness up to 75.5 HRC using patented Electron Beam Melting; enables complex geometries impossible with traditional machining.

CEO / Founder: Magnus Bergman
Team Size: 11-50
Stage: Active
Total Funding: $7.45M
Latest Round: Venture Round
Key Investors: Energimyndigheten; Almi Invest; Vinnova; EIT RawMaterials; Paab

Technology & Products

Key Products

VBN Components offers 3D printed metal components made with five unique Vibenite® materials, including Vibenite® 290 (world's hardest steel), Vibenite® 480 (new cemented carbide for AM), and hard-condition stainless steels. They sell metal tools and components in near-net-shape according to customer drawings, as well as license solutions.

Technological Advantage

Patented EBM process + proprietary alloy compositions create defensible moat; high-carbide-content AM capability is unmatched (verified through patent battle win vs. Uddeholms). Technology enables complex geometry + hardness combination impossible with traditional machining, reducing lead time from 18+ weeks to weeks and enabling design optimization (cooling channels, weight reduction). Wear-life improvement (2x gear hob lifespan, 50% better die performance documented) justifies premium pricing and locks in customer switching costs.

Patent position

VBN Components filed 14 patent families across all years, compared with 219 for GE Additive, 75 for Carpenter Technology, and 128 for Arcam AB. AMPulse analysis

Filing momentum: 3 families filed 2022–2024, 3 in 2019–2021
Filed in: EP 43%WO 29%US 21%CN 21%
Named competitors, AM patent families: GE Additive 219 Carpenter Technology 75 Arcam AB 128

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

Reduces component wear-related failures and production costs (30–40% documented savings on gear hobs; punches/dies achieve ~50% better performance vs. traditional PM steel) by enabling 3D-printed ultra-hard alloys in complex shapes with integrated cooling channels and topology optimization—eliminates expensive machining and improves part lifetime.

How They Differentiate

Only company 3D-printing metals with carbide content and hardness levels matching Vibenite® 290/480; documented 2x gear hob lifespan and 30–40% production cost savings vs. traditional PM steel; unique cemented carbide formulation via AM (Vibenite® 480). License model enables customers to produce in-house, expanding reach beyond VBN's printing capacity. Patented process defensibility demonstrated through patent litigation win.

Market & Competition

Target Customers

Industrial manufacturers needing wear-resistant components in aerospace, automotive, energy, food processing, and tool production

Industry Verticals

Aerospace; Automotive; Energy (oil & gas, industrial equipment); Food processing and confectionery (cutting/processing equipment); Tooling and tool manufacturing; Heavy industrial machinery; Injection molding (plastic tools and molds)

Competitors

Uddeholms AB (Swedish tool steel/wear-resistant materials competitor; patent disputed with VBN); GE Additive / GE Research (metal AM materials and systems); Carpenter Technology (specialty alloys for industrial applications); Other EBM system providers (Arcam, now GE Additive; Electron Beam Melting equipment competition)

Growth & Milestones

Growth Metrics

Revenue $5M–$10M (as of data collection date); Team 11–20 employees; Completed fully-subscribed funding round (spring, year unspecified); Expanded manufacturing capacity and moving to larger premises to support workforce growth and production equipment investment.

Major Milestones

Founded: 2008; Patent victory vs. Uddeholms AB: 2019; SKAPA Development Award (Swedish invention prize): 2019; German innovation award for materials development: 2019; Vibenite® 480 launch (3D-printed cemented carbide): ~2017–2018; HTL Co. Japan Ltd. distribution partnership: December 2020; Vibenite® 350 launch (stainless alloy): 2022 (supported by Swedish Energy Agency); CEO appointment (Magnus Bergman): September 2022; Fully-subscribed funding round completed: Spring (2022 or later, year not specified)

Notable Customers

SKF (bearing/machinery OEM, multi-year partnership); ORKLA Confectionery & Snacks (food industry component production); Unnamed global engineering group (major series-production agreement for AM-HSS™ manufacturing); Undisclosed exclusive-license customer (niche high-strength components, confidential); HTL Co. Japan Ltd. (distributor, implying Japanese industrial customer base)

https://vbncomponents.com

Recent coverage of VBN Components

VBN Components integrates cemented carbide AM inserts into large castings via Nucleation Net Zone3dadept.comMay 4, 2026
VBN Components deploys Vibenite 480 cemented carbide inserts for slurry pump wear zones3dprint.comApr 27, 2026

Official records

Filings, certifications, and programme counts AMPulse can show for this company.

[F] Horizon / CORDIS · 1 AM awardProject records derived from CORDIS, the European Union research results portal, CC BY 4.0.

[F] Scientific basis for tungsten and tungsten alloys tailored for electron beam additive manufacturing · 2026

AM patents

AM-relevant patents linked to this company.

Patents: 18
Granted: 7
Families: 14

Leading domains: material (18), process (18), equipment (4)

Filings by year: 2023: 3 · 2019: 4 · 2017: 10 · 2010: 1

HIGH CARBON CONTENT COBALT-BASED ALLOY2018169477 · WO2018-09-20
Metal multiphase material and manufacturing method therefore02361704 · EP2011-08-31
High hardness 3D printed steel product11725264 · US2020-09-10
3D PRINTED HIGH CARBON CONTENT STEEL AND METHOD OF PREPARING THE SAME2020149787 · WO2020-07-23
HIGH HARDNESS 3D PRINTED STEEL PRODUCT03713696 · EP2020-09-30

Funding rounds

Venture RoundUndisclosed2021-03Source: VBN Components PR
Venture RoundUndisclosed2014-01Lead: Almi Invest · Source: Almi.se
Grant15,000 SEK (grant)2008-07Lead: ALMI Företagspartner · Source: VBN Components website

Why this company matters

AMPulse analysis, not a company disclosure

VBN Components occupies a narrow but defensible niche in additive manufacturing: producing metal components with hardness and carbide content that no other AM process can match. Founded in 2008 in Uppsala, Sweden, the company developed a proprietary Electron Beam Melting (EBM) process and a family of Vibenite® alloys that combine extreme wear and heat resistance with the geometric freedom of 3D printing. Its Vibenite® 290 is marketed as the world's hardest 3D-printed steel, while Vibenite® 480 is the first commercially available 3D-printed cemented carbide.

The core technology is a patented EBM process that enables high-carbide-content metal alloys to be printed without cracking or porosity, a limitation that has prevented other AM systems from reaching comparable hardness levels. VBN sells near-net-shape components to customer drawings and also offers a license model for in-house production. Documented customer results include 30–40% cost savings on gear hobs, 50% better die performance versus traditional powder metallurgy steel, and lead time reductions from 18+ weeks to a few weeks.

Target customers are industrial manufacturers in aerospace, automotive, energy, food processing, and tooling that need wear-resistant parts with complex internal cooling channels or topology-optimized geometries. Named partners include SKF, Orkla Confectionery & Snacks, and HTL Co. Japan Ltd. A multi-year series-production agreement with an unnamed global engineering group suggests growing adoption beyond prototyping. The company has raised approximately $7.45 million from investors including Energimyndigheten, Almi Invest, and Vinnova.

VBN's strategic moat rests on its patented alloy compositions and EBM process, which it successfully defended in a patent litigation against Swedish tool steel competitor Uddeholms AB. The combination of extreme hardness and complex geometry creates high switching costs for customers who validate parts for multi-year production runs. The primary risk is that larger metal AM players—such as GE Additive or Carpenter Technology—develop competing high-carbide materials, or that binder jetting advances erode the cost advantage of EBM for certain geometries.