The story of Azul 3D and their capital raising journey

Revolutionizing 3D printing for mass production
 

James Hedrick is co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Azul 3D, a 3D printing company with manufacturing headquarters based in Skokie, Illinois.

Azul 3D is a cutting-edge company that specializes in high-performance 3D printers that use High Area Rapid Printing (HARP™) technology. HARP technology solves unique challenges within the 3D printing process, allowing the company to produce large parts made from a variety of materials, at production speeds that far exceed those of their competitors.

“Heat is a real problem with 3D printing. If you don’t control it, you don’t make consistent parts. What was special was we hooked up our cooling system with it; that together gives you a product system that is unparalleled to anything that’s been seen before.”

The HARP printers, combined with Azul 3D's specially designed industrial-grade materials, offer a streamlined, single-platform solution for manufacturers looking to move from prototyping to mass production of highly customized products across multiple industries. This creates a unique opportunity for just-in-time production of diverse, highly specialized products.

Raising capital while building the ‘future factory’

During the height of the pandemic, in mid-2020, Azul 3D raised $12.5 in seed funding to develop its technology and launch its first commercially available machines. 

Their technology was instrumental in 3D printing medical face shields en masse during the COVID period, and the company went through a significant growth period, raising capital to support their expansion. Not an easy task when you are simultaneously running a high-growth business.

“When you think about raising capital there’s a lot going on at once,” said James Hedrick. “When your startup is our size, we’re not stopping our day jobs to raise capital and so you just feel absolute chaos going on with it.”

James and the team needed a solution that would simplify the process and allow them to maintain business as usual. 
 

Finding a flexible fundraising fit 

“When you think about going through the Venture Capital community, going through a fundraising, everyone’s coming in at different stages,” said James.

“It was when we were looking around for a data room that Ansarada came out as one of the top recommended ones because of the ability for us to go through all the different stages. From when we’re doing a small 10-million-dollar round, to when we’re going to become a unicorn down the road, we don’t have to change platforms – we have something we can grow into and can grow with us.” 

“Every group that we’re talking to wants and has different questions. Some groups go under NDA, some groups don’t, so being able to quickly switch what everyone sees and not worry about accidentally showing the wrong things is something that’s critical to me. That’s been very helpful simplifying my life as we go through these raises – one less thing on the plate.”