What if it were as easy to generate a usable 3D design as prompting ChatGPT? That’s the mission of Backflip, a startup founded by 3D printing veterans that’s just scored $30 million from Andreessen Horowitz, New Enterprise Associates, and a host of other big names in tech. Designing physical objects often requires hours or days of specialized work using computer-aided design software. Backflip CEO Greg Mark and CTO David Benhaim, both founders of 3D printing company Markforged, want to turn that into minutes thanks to Backflip’s new foundational models. “AI language models capture how we think, vision models capture how we see, and Backflip is creating foundation models that capture how we build,” Benhaim said.Backflip says its models are trained on a large dataset of about 10 million 3D parts, generated in part thanks to AI, that took two years to build. With this raise, Backflip plans to launch its app and democratize the design process for anyone, from manufacturers to regular people, Mark told TechCrunch. The AI isn’t limited to text, either: It can produce designs based on sketches, photos, or other materials, as well.“Now anyone can do it. You can literally text prompts, or draw a sketch, or pull in an image, or snap a photo with your iPhone — and then print it out. Your ideas are in the world

In November 2023, Markforged Holding Corporation announced the launch of Vega, which is a high-performance filament designed for aerospace manufacturing on Mark forged's FX20 printer.

Markforged Holding Corp approved its acquisition by Nano Dimension Ltd at a special stockholder meeting on December 5, 2024. With 67.84% of shares present, the Merger Agreement Proposal passed with 13,914,758 votes for, 68,719 against, and 7,481 abstentions. The Adjournment Proposal was not needed. Markforged's stock (MKFG) and warrants (MKFG.WS) are on the NYSE. Details are in the SEC 8-K filing dated December 5, 2024.