Aridditive's concrete 3D printer aims for half a million euros this year

A 3D printer capable of manufacturing concrete parts over three meters long. This is the technology being developed by Aridditive, a spin-off of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) that aims to revolutionize the construction sector. Its technology allows for the sustainable production of urban furniture, facades, bridges, homes, and other highly complex constructive elements in an industrialized and automated manner, which reduces costs and resources.

A technology that has involved ten years of research, since the process began in 2014 within the CIM Foundation of the UPC, a center where various technologies related to 3D printing were being developed. The initial idea was to build a printer capable of manufacturing houses, and then transport it wherever needed. "But we soon realized that it was difficult to print outdoors, with changing weather conditions, so we thought it was easier to print inside a factory, in a controlled environment, and for this reason, we opted to manufacture parts for construction," summarizes Roger Uceda, CEO of Aridditive.

Uceda, who had also been CEO of BCN3D ---a 3D printing startup focused on plastics---, was at that time director of transfer and valorization at CIM-UPC, to ensure that the research being developed within the center could reach the market. The engineer decided to bet on this project and undertake it together with other colleagues from the university, and thus they established Aridditive in 2023.

To subsidize this technology, in September 2024 they also managed to raise a round of 500,000 euros from the Madrid-based fund BeAble Capital and the Barcelona-based Suma Capital, as well as 120,000 euros from Acció, the Agency for Business Competitiveness of the Generalitat.

With this capital, they have moved into a new 1,000 square meter plant in Sant Vicenç dels Horts, the ATIC (Aridditive Technology and Innovation Center). The space will be the center for architects and professionals in the sector to learn about this technology in person, as well as to manufacture the first series in this space. The idea is that, after testing it, companies will acquire one of the printers marketed by the spin-off, which has already launched its first printer, the Volta 3D, to the market.

"Thanks to IT and existing technology, architects have flexibility when designing, but when it comes to producing the pieces, they are very limited," laments Uceda. In this sense, one of the purposes of the Aridditive printer is to allow architects and designers to have absolute freedom. On the other hand, in a sector like construction, with a shortage of labor and resources, "having a printer that automates processes means reducing resources, costs, personnel, and time," defends the CEO.

Another pillar of the company is its commitment to sustainability. The construction sector accounts for almost 38% of carbon dioxide emissions, and with the use of this 3D printer, they ensure that no cement is wasted. "Compared to the formwork technique, we manage to reduce the cement used by between 50 and 70%, a material that generates up to 8% of CO₂ emissions," assures Uceda.

Aridditive has already reached agreements with companies in the sector such as Ciments Molins, Lagula Arquitectos, and Benito Urban, to develop real solutions based on 3D printing. But the intention is that their clients are not only national, but they are already establishing alliances with companies around the world, to enter the European, Asian, and American markets. They already work with companies from Chile, Mexico, and an Austrian one through which they want to introduce an alternative material into cement to print their pieces and thus further reduce the emissions they generate.

In the short term, the Aridditive spin-off plans to invoice half a million euros by the end of the year, with the sale of two printers it has already committed, and to double its team, now made up of five people. In addition, the company's plans also include manufacturing 20 units of the Volta 3D Printer in the next three years.