President of 3D Prod Quentin Kiener (l) with Sculpteo CEO Alexandre d’Orsetti (r), whose two companies will merge to create France’s largest additive manufacturing service bureau.
Image courtesy of 3D Prod and Sculpteo.
3D Prod has acquired Sculpteo, combining two French additive manufacturing (AM) service providers into a new group aiming to become one of Europe’s leading players in industrial 3D printing.
The merger brings Sculpteo back under French ownership after its 2019 acquisition by BASF New Business GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of BASF SE. The combined company will have 100 employees, €17 million in combined revenue, a target of €20 million by 2027, more than 7,000 corporate customers, and annual production of more than 1.25 million parts. The new group will operate two production sites, in the Vosges and Villejuif in the Île-de-France region, with global coverage across 62 countries.
The transaction amount was not disclosed.
For 3D Prod and Sculpteo, the deal reflects a larger shift in AM away from its earlier emphasis on prototyping and toward more structured industrial production. Both companies have built businesses around 3D printing services, but they bring different strengths. 3D Prod contributes industrial production capacity, finishing expertise, a European manufacturing base, and a connection to the larger Platex Group, a plastic injection molding specialist. Sculpteo adds its online manufacturing platform, design studio, international customer base, and experience serving sectors such as medical, fashion, drones, design, and industrial applications.
“The project behind this acquisition is to merge two companies, two competencies, two capacities, and two customer portfolios to build a leader in the French market and the world,” said Alexandre d’Orsetti, CEO of Sculpteo, in an interview.
A key part of the strategy is capacity. Both Sculpteo and 3D Prod operate HP Multi Jet Fusion systems, and the combined group says it will have one of the largest HP 3D printer fleets in the world. By bringing the two operations together, the companies expect to take on larger series production jobs while maintaining the flexibility required for prototyping and lower-volume manufacturing.
From AM To IM: Injection Molding
The merger also gives the group a broader position across the manufacturing value chain. Sculpteo has long been associated with online 3D printing and digital manufacturing, while 3D Prod has deeper links to industrial production and, through Platex, injection molding. That connection could prove important as more customers look for suppliers able to advise on the right production process rather than simply sell 3D printing as the answer to every problem.
Quentin Kiener, President of 3D Prod, said the injection molding background gives the AM business a model for industrialization.
“Injection molding is an old technology, and it has been structured in an industrial way for quite some time,” he said. “What is interesting in this project is that we can count on Platex to help us build this new way of organizing production for the 3D printing business.”
That could include lessons in automation, production optimization, cycle time, and productivity. It also gives the group a dual offering. If injection molding is the better option for a customer with very high volumes, the group can recommend it. If the fixed cost of tooling is difficult to justify, AM can remain the better choice.
Target Additive Manufacturing Markets
For years, 3D printing service providers were pushed to support everything from consumer products to quick prototypes. More recently, the market has shifted toward industrial customers that need traceability, repeatability, post-processing, engineering support, certification, and the ability to move from first parts into serial production.
That shift is also visible in the broader market data. According to Wohlers Report 2026, global AM industry revenue reached $24.231 billion in 2025, up 10.9% from $21.855 billion in 2024. Among the major revenue categories, services grew the fastest, increasing 15.5% and outpacing hardware, software, and materials. The 3D Prod-Sculpteo combination lands squarely in that context, as service providers become a larger part of the industry’s growth story.
Additive manufacturing revenues broken down by segment demonstrate that service bureaus are growing at the fastest rate, compared to materials, hardware, and software.
Image courtesy of Wohlers Associates.
Sculpteo has already moved in that direction. The company previously closed its consumer-focused marketplace and has spent years building a more industrial customer base. D’Orsetti said Sculpteo has focused particularly on medical and fashion applications, including work with demanding fashion customers in Paris and a medical device quality management certification.
“We have been focusing especially on the medical area in terms of high-end markets, and also on fashion, because in Paris we have a significant fashion industry,” he said. “They are very demanding in terms of quality, and we have developed know-how to produce and design for them. Especially in medical, we have been certified ISO 13485—the medical certification for devices—for three years now.”
For now, the new group’s first priority is integration. D’Orsetti said the companies will begin by combining their existing materials, technologies, customer relationships, and production capabilities. Expansion into new materials or processes, such as high-temperature polymers including the PAEK family of polymers, may come later. This latter area could be particularly synergistic, as France already boasts one of the few powder-focused PAEK 3D printing services, Verne AM.
Additive Manufacturing For Supply Chain Resilience
The new group will also operate in a changed geopolitical environment. Supply chain resilience, localized production, and defense-related manufacturing have become more prominent themes for AM. The companies say becoming a larger French player may help strengthen relationships with customers in sectors where trust, proximity, and reliability matter.
“I think the fact that the two companies are French, and that together we will become the biggest French actor in this market, is important,” d’Orsetti said. “For a certain number of our customers in France, especially in these kinds of sectors, it is interesting to be able to build a very close relationship. Beyond certifications and reliability, it also comes with trust and a very deep connection with decision makers.”
Another part of the company’s future production strategy may involve a mix of large industrial systems and smaller machine farms. D’Orsetti said service providers need to evaluate all technologies, including new lower-cost systems entering the market. He sees the future as a hybrid production model rather than a simple shift from one machine category to another.
“We still need capacity like MJF because the market is used to it, and we need to be able to build big parts, which requires big machines,” he said. “But I think the future is a mix of big machines and farms of small systems.”
Large systems such as HP MJF remain necessary for established materials, large parts, and production capacity. Smaller systems can provide more flexibility, faster job scheduling, easier material experimentation, and the ability to dedicate specific machines to individual customers or projects.
The companies describe the strategy in two phases. The first phase will focus on commercial and production synergies, combining the strengths of the two businesses. Starting in 2027, the group plans to invest in equipment upgrades, recruitment, and series production ramp-up.
D’Orsetti said the timing is essential. A decade ago, he suggested, the market may not have been ready for this type of combination. Today, as more customers look for additive manufacturing partners capable of supporting industrial production, the rationale is clearer.