09-13-2022: Stratasys and NPM Capital completed the merger of MakerBot with Ultimaker

Unfortunately, the plan to create a desktop 3D printing champion fell apart when Bambu Lab burst onto the scene...

On September 13, 2022, Stratasys and NPM Capital announced they had closed the merger of MakerBot with Ultimaker to form a new entity under the name "UltiMaker," effective August 31, 2022. The merger was first announced four months earlier, on May 12 of the same year. At that time, it seemed that the new combined brand would completely dominate the desktop 3D printing FFF segment. Unfortunately for the American-Dutch company, around the same time, an unknown Chinese company called Bambu Lab debuted on Kickstarter, and in the following months, it turned the market upside down...

American MakerBot was the first desktop 3D printer manufacturer in the world and one of the largest companies of its kind. Dutch Ultimaker was founded just two years later and eventually became the European equivalent of MakerBot. From 2010 to 2020, both companies set the trends and directions for the entire industry, holding what seemed to be a solid and unshakable position.

Under the terms of the agreement, NPM Capital—owner of Ultimaker—contributed the Dutch company's assets to the newly formed entity and invested $15.4 million, while Stratasys—owner of MakerBot—contributed the American manufacturer's assets and invested an additional $47 million. Simultaneously, NPM Capital became the owner of 54.4%, and Stratasys 45.6% of the new combined company.

Initially, the new company was led by Nadav Goshen—the then-CEO of MakerBot, and Jürgen von Hollen—the then-CEO of Ultimaker. Both companies—now a single organization—retained their headquarters in the Netherlands and the USA. A year later, on September 12, 2023, Michiel Alting von Geusau took on the role of the sole CEO of the company.

The merger information was kept in strict secrecy until the very end. Employees didn’t know about it, nor did the leading distributors. Its public disclosure came as a huge surprise—teams that had previously competed with each other were now expected to collaborate. Distributors who had promoted one brand over the other were now supposed to praise both simultaneously.

But none of that was the real issue. The problem turned out to be Bambu Lab and the ever-growing Prusa Research. Today, UltiMaker has fallen from its pedestal. Its marketing presence is incomparably lower than that of the two aforementioned companies, and its market share is also declining.

MakerBot itself was reduced to an educational brand last October, with its flagship model being the Sketch—a clone of the FlashForge Adventurer 4. It’s truly a sad and embarrassing downfall for such a once-renowned brand...

Source: www.stratasys.com