UpNano Successfully Meets Global Demand for Unmet Speed, High Resolution & Great Flexibility

Vienna, Austria, 19 January 2024 – Based on the worldwide growing demand for its NanoOne series of 2PP 3D-printers, UpNano GmbH, headquartered in Vienna, Austria, looks back on an extremely successful year with a 57% increase in turnover. Customers in industry and academia on five continents now benefit from the fastest high-resolution 2PP 3D-printer available. In parallel with meeting this demand, the company continued to release innovative features and new materials for 2PP 3D-printing. These innovations were driven by specific customer requirements and met with the high flexibility that has become the hallmark of UpNano. As a result of increasing needs and the growth of the innovation pipeline, the company’s facilities in the EU and USA were expanded and new staff was hired. This puts the company in a unique position to serve the global 2PP 3D-printing market, which increasingly calls for high speed, high precision industrial manufacturing.

For many companies, 2023 was an exceptionally challenging year. Few, however, have had to face challenges as fortunate as UpNano’s: meeting an exceptionally growing demand for its leading-edge 2PP 3D-printers while introducing innovative printing features and new materials eagerly anticipated by customers in industry and academia alike, and expanding the company’s facilities in the EU and the US. In fact, global demand for the innovation leader’s soon-to-be extended NanoOne printer series – the fastest high-definition 2PP 3D-printer on the market – has resulted in a 57% increase in sales, tripling the number of machines active in the US, and customers on five continents – all achieved through a strong sense of innovation and customer collaboration.

Ahead of the Crowd

Bernhard Küenburg, CEO of UpNano commented: “The competitive environment in the 2PP 3D-printing market is increasing every year. We are extremely proud that our NanoOne series of compact desktop printing systems continues to stay ahead of the crowd. It remains the fastest high-resolution 3D-printer on the market, capable of printing over an unprecedented fifteen orders of magnitude. These are specifications that more and more companies and institutions worldwide are demanding. We continue to learn from these needs and remain committed to providing our customers with customized and flexible solutions.”

In 2023 this commitment resulted in the introduction of Hydrotech INX© U200 (co-developed with materials specialist BIO INX), a bio-ink that allows an additional layer of complexity to be added to a bioprinted construct by combining it with other biocompatible materials such as Hydrobio INX© U200, which offers cell interactivity. Another UpNano highlight in 2023 was the launch of the latest software upgrade for all NanoOne printers. This adds the capability for smart stitching, which can improve the quality of the final product and further increase the already high printing speed. In addition, several completely different print jobs can now be combined into one using the same lens and material, saving costs and production time.

Challenged & Relaxed

“Meeting the ever-increasing demand and bringing the latest developments from our R&D department to market while expanding our facilities in Vienna and Boston, USA has been challenging,” reflects Denise Hirner, COO of UpNano, “but increased sales and the continuing support and confidence of all our investors have allowed us to focus fully on meeting these challenges with the highest possible quality.” Equally important to UpNano is to support the knowledge exchange with NanoOne customers and amongst them on a scientific but also practical level. Therefore, everyone owing a NanoOne printer will be invited to the headquarters in Vienna again this year for the annual “UpNano Customer Event” in June. Here they will experience all products and new developments, the new clean room and an additional analytical lab with state-of-the-art equipment for material and part analysis. They will also exchange with the growing number of UpNano experts, including experienced materials experts from around the world and use the possibility to interact with other machine customers working in different fields. Last year there were visitors from all over the world, from the west coast of the USA to Australia. “In addition to expanding our facilities at the headquarters, we have also expanded our facilities in Boston, USA,” adds Bernhard Küenburg. “This has become necessary as interest in the NanoOne printers there have far exceeded our expectations. In fact, we have tripled the number of units sold in one year, and we continue to meet all incoming requests.”

Faced with the increasing demand for high speed and high precision for industrial production, UpNano also initiated a market research study in 2023. Focusing on the US market, the research identified several areas of particular interest to UpNano, as there are many unmet needs that can be addressed by micro 3D-printing. These include microfluidics, heat exchangers, the entire semiconductor industry, and implantable devices, especially in interventional cardiology.

All in all, UpNano seems very well prepared for another successful year. A year that will also see the launch of new materials (to be showcased at SPIE. Photonics West 2024 and MD&M West, California, end of the month), software upgrades, and another member of the highly successful NanoOne printer series.

About UpNano GmbH (2024)

UpNano is a Vienna (Austria) based high-tech company with the focus on development, manufacturing, and commercialization of high-resolution 3D-printers. The systems are based on 2-photon-polymerization which offer industry-leading speed and resolution below 0.2 µm. UpNano is committed to providing customers with a holistic package of hardware, software, and optimized printing materials, for the fabrication of polymeric microparts as well as the unique possibility of bioprinting in a native cell environment. Using UpNano’s cutting-edge technology makes it possible to print objects with sizes ranging from the sub-micrometer to the centimeter range and up to 40 mm in height – within times and precision never achieved before.