Impossible Objects announced a $40 million Series B on September 11 to expand its industrial 3D-printing business. The Illinois company supplies machines, materials and printed parts to manufacturers that need lightweight components or the tools used to assemble other products. Its approach combines long carbon or glass fibers with plastic, aiming to make composite parts useful in production rather than only as prototypes.
Electronics manufacturing offers a concrete example. A circuit-board assembler can send Impossible Objects its board-design files and component list, and the company designs and prints a custom solder pallet. This is a fixture that supports a board during assembly and helps protect heat-sensitive components. The customer is buying a tool for the factory, not a finished electronic device. The same service includes jigs, trays and other fixtures shaped around a particular production job.
The underlying method is called composite-based additive manufacturing, or CBAM. Instead of relying only on plastic, it combines long-fiber fabric with a thermoplastic material that binds the composite. Its material combinations include carbon fiber with PEEK, a high-performance plastic, and fiberglass with nylon. Impossible Objects markets these for jobs requiring resistance to heat and chemicals as well as low weight. Whether a combination fits a particular part still depends on that customer's requirements; the company's broad speed and strength comparisons are not universal performance guarantees.
The commercial offering has more than one route into a factory: customers can acquire a printing system and materials or order custom parts through the company's production service. Impossible Objects says it has taken five orders for its CBAM 25 system and has begun deployments across aerospace, defense and advanced manufacturing. Its announcement names organizations including the National Institute for Aviation Research, Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center and Rochester Institute of Technology. Orders and named deployments describe early adoption, not proof that every installation is already producing at full capacity.
Inflection Equity led the round, with Aaron Wealth Management, OCA Ventures, Impact Capital and Excell Partners participating. Founder Bob Swartz and CEO Steve Hoover separately confirmed the $40 million Series B to Axios. The company says the proceeds will expand system production, customer deployments and service capacity. Its announcement also cites $20 million in government contracts and awards, which are separate from the equity financing and are not being counted as part of this round.
The next business challenge is the work surrounding the printer. A manufacturer needs repeatable dimensions, dependable material supplies and support when a machine interrupts a production schedule. Custom tooling gives Impossible Objects a way to demonstrate its process on a customer's own design before a larger equipment decision. Scaling that relationship requires more than a fast printing demonstration: it means turning the resulting parts into something a factory can order, inspect and use repeatedly.