Polar Cloud Hits 100,000 3D Prints, Company Closes $2 Million Financing & Expands Team
CINCINNATI, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Polar 3D, the Company that provides the most comprehensive, end-to-end solution for 3D printing in the classroom, is pleased to announce its Polar Cloud has reached 100,000 3D print jobs — making it the fastest growing online platform for 3D printing in education. In addition to this milestone, the Company also announces that it has closed a $2 million financing round and expanded its executive team with two industry luminaries, Dan Newman and David Thornburg.
"As this school year got underway, we saw a major ramp-up of 3D print jobs on our Polar Cloud," noted Greg LaLonde, Polar 3D's CEO. "We are thrilled the experience is moving past the 3D printer itself to a truly collaborative environment where student-led learning, discovery and "making" are exploding. There is simply no limit to how much these kids want to show off their work. It's intoxicating, contagious, and is why the Polar Cloud affords an unusually large-scale opportunity."
To help fund and accelerate the growth of the Polar Cloud, the Company closed out a $2 million convertible note financing on September 30, 2016. The Company previously raised $1.5 million and plans a $6.5 million Series A round in 2017. It also hired Dan Newman as Chief Technology Officer and David Thornburg as Director of Education.
"After seeing the Polar Cloud and hearing plans for Polar Cloud 2.0, I couldn't say yes fast enough... they had me at print," says Dan Newman. Bill Steele, Co-founder of Polar 3D put it this way: "Everyone knows of Dan. He wrote the firmware used by our competitors' printers (e.g., Makerbot, Dremel, etc.) and helped Apple design their solution to scale iCloud. Dan is going to make a massive impact on our cloud and hardware products, we are very lucky to have him."
The Polar Cloud 2.0 will go live January 1, 2017 and aims to greatly expand and enrich the user experience. "We are all about education and inspiring students to innovate and think like entrepreneurs," said Ed Estes, Co-founder of Polar 3D. "Naturally, when the opportunity arose to grab David Thornburg we took it and didn't let go. David literally wrote the book on 3D printing in the classroom and is globally recognized as a pioneer in the field of 3D printing in education."
"I met Polar at ISTE in 2015 and have watched their passion and momentum build," says David Thornburg. "After they acquired STEAMtrax from 3D Systems and asked me to run it, I thought wow this is the perfect opportunity for me to take my work and network of the past 40 years to drive content and creation on the Polar Cloud to benefit classrooms around the globe."
About Polar 3D
For more information on the Company and Polar Cloud platform, or to purchase a Polar 3D Printer, visit www.polar3d.com.
SOURCE Polar 3D
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