Freeform is turning laser metal printing into autonomous factory capacity

Freeform raised a $67 million Series B on February 19, 2026 to scale laser-AI manufacturing after emerging from stealth in 2023 with $45 million. The Los Angeles company is building software-defined autonomous metal-printing factories, with investors including NVentures, AE Ventures, Founders Fund, and earlier backers tied to advanced manufacturing and aerospace demand.

Freeform was founded by former SpaceX engineers, with co-founder and CEO Erik Palitsch bringing experience from rocket-engine work where metal 3D printing was already part of production. The company sells manufacturing-as-a-service rather than only printer hardware, using automated laser metal printing systems to deliver parts for customers. Its 2023 stealth launch named Embark Trucks and Ursa Major as customers, with Ursa Major using Freeform for rocket-engine components.

The core process is built around GoldenEye, a production system that uses 18 lasers to fuse metal powders into precision components. Freeform's next-generation Skyfall platform, planned for 2026, is intended to scale from 18 lasers to hundreds of lasers and push output into thousands of kilograms of metal.

Freeform secured strategic investment from NVIDIA's NVentures and AE Ventures in 2024, joined NVIDIA Inception, and uses accelerated computing for predictive process control. AE Ventures also coordinated a Boeing technical review of Freeform's printing capability for future commercial aviation and defense certification work.

Freeform sells manufactured parts and production capacity. Other approaches include customer-operated metal printers from suppliers such as Velo3D and conventional CNC manufacturing.

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