After years of negative investor sentiment in public markets, the additive manufacturing (AM) industry has seen a modest resurgence in Initial Public Offering (IPO) interest in 2025.Back in August, 3DPrint.com’s Joris Peels wrote about the general market effects of a forthcoming Creality IPO, India’s INDO-MIM filed for a $113 million IPO in October, and amidst Carbon’s $60 million raise last month, founder Phil DeSimone told Axios that the company expects to go public in the next 1-2 years.The latest AM company to join this fray is 6K Additive, which just went public on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).
The metal powders supplier based in western Pennsylvania raised A$48 million (~$32 million), giving 6K Additive a market capitalization of A$267 million (~$176 million) and an enterprise value of A$206 million (~$136 million).This follows up on the news from last week that the company had received $27.4 million in loans from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM).6K Additive will use both the EXIM funding and the IPO proceeds to support its longstanding goal of achieving full production capacity by the end of 2026, involving a ramp-up from current production levels of 200 metric tons to 1,000 metric tons annually by the close of next year.
According to the company, one of that plan’s central features entails the acquisition of “up to ten additional UniMelt systems”, the signature infrastructure enabling the company’s proprietary feedstock production process.Another detail emerging in 6K Additive’s IPO announcement is the revelation of a $240 million sales pipeline, which the company claims is a $10 million increase over the two months leading up to the end of November.As with other startups in the American critical minerals space, 6K Additive is benefitting from a broad-based push by the U.S.
government and other major stakeholders to diversify supplies from existing sources, which are increasingly leveraging their control over raw material supply chains as part of ongoing geopolitical and trade negotiations with Washington and its allies.The 6K Additive team at Formnext 2025.Image courtesy of 6K Additive via LinkedIn.
In a press release about 6K Additive’s IPO on the ASX, the company’s CEO and Managing Director, Frank Roberts, said, “The IPO and resulting capital fast-track the realization of our vision and achieve the scale with attractive unit economics and unique material breadth required by customers in defense, aerospace, energy, and medical markets.As a strategic supplier to the U.S.Department of War and its Tier-1 contractors, our products, production processes and technology have been qualified in their supply chains, reinforcing these relationships.
This growth enables a domestic supply of critical materials for applications such as hypersonics, nuclear fusion, medical implants, and rocket-engine development.” David Seldin, the Chairman of the Board of 6K Additive and Managing Partner of Anzu Partners, said, “As an institutional investor in 6K Additive from its inception, I witnessed this organization grow to the leading domestic provider of metal powders and alloy additions.The breadth and quality of 6K Additive’s products, the trusted relationship with the US Department of War and the dedicated employee talent, underscores the potential this organization has in the coming 3-5 years.” One notable angle here is that 6K Additive’s market cap and enterprise value are both lower than the total amount raised across its financing rounds, even though it brought in just over $100 million in its Series D round in early 2022.There’s nothing wrong with this per se; I think it’s simply worth mentioning as a frame of reference.
In fact, my personal stance is that this is probably a good thing, as it means the company is more likely under- than over-valued.In light of 6K Additive’s disclosure of a $240 million sales pipeline, for instance, the company’s market cap indeed seems quite low.It’s also relevant here that the Australian Financial Review noted, in a write-up on 6 K’s IPO, that one of the company’s competitors, IperionX, was recently the subject of a short seller report, which has hit the latter stock’s share price over the last few weeks.
Thus, it’s an investor climate, in critical minerals and more broadly, in which it’s almost certainly preferable to be viewed as underpriced rather than as a crowded trade.And, on the other hand, the central topic of the Australian Financial Review article is that 6K Additive’s IPO was moderately upsized to A$48 million after the company was originally seeking A$40 million.I think the true determining factors for the company’s long-term success will be whether or not it meets its ramp-up to full production by the end of next year, along with how much of its current sales pipeline comes to fruition, and how quickly that happens.
If 6K Additive can stay on schedule with its operational targets, it will be a huge win for the U.S.AM industry, as well as for the company itself.Featured image courtesy of 6K Additive Subscribe to Our Email Newsletter Stay up-to-date on all the latest news from the 3D printing industry and receive information and offers from third party vendors.
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