ICON, most likely probably the most well-known agency within the additive building (AC) sector, has secured $56 million in Collection C funding, with funding led by Norwest Enterprise Companions and Tiger International. The corporate plans to lift as much as $75 million in extra funding. The funding marks the newest infusion of capital into the Austin-based firm, which has raised over $500 million so far. Nonetheless, ICON has not disclosed its new valuation.
The funding will primarily help the event of Phoenix, ICON’s line of multi-story 3D printers, which the corporate goals to place into the palms of builders. In keeping with an ICON spokesperson, the brand new printer incorporates a low-carbon constructing materials, aligning with the corporate’s ongoing emphasis on sustainability. Regardless of this shift towards scaling its robotic building platform, ICON will proceed to construct houses immediately for a variety of initiatives, together with residential, hospitality, inexpensive housing, and navy purposes.
A rendering of an ICON house in Wimberly Springs
The funding spherical follows a latest announcement of a workforce discount at ICON. In January 2025, the corporate stated that it could lay off 114 workers by March 8, constituting roughly 25% of its workforce. The layoffs have been framed as a strategic realignment to give attention to key progress priorities. Previous to this discount, ICON reportedly had fewer than 400 workers.
ICON’s trajectory within the AC market has been characterised by each technical developments and strategic shifts. Since its launch at SXSW in 2018, the corporate has developed 3D-printed buildings for varied markets, together with catastrophe aid housing, social housing, and navy buildings. ICON has additionally expanded into market-rate housing, collaborating with homebuilders comparable to Lennar on large-scale developments.
Inside ICON’s 3D printed navy barracks for the Texas Army Division. Picture courtesy of ICON.
One in all its newer initiatives, Wimberley Springs, includes the development of a neighborhood of 3D-printed houses in Texas. The primary accomplished home within the growth is a 4,115-square-foot, four-bedroom house, constructed in 5 months, half the time sometimes required for conventional builds within the area, in response to ICON. The home was constructed utilizing CarbonX, the corporate’s proprietary low-carbon cementitious materials, which it claims gives improved power effectivity.
ICON’s newest funding spherical comes monetary woes within the AC sector. Mighty Buildings, one other startup darling within the house, introduced in January 2025 that it’s searching for a purchaser. The corporate, which has a novel course of for 3D printing partitions utilizing an ultraviolet curing course of, is working with Rock Creek Advisors to facilitate the sale. Mighty Buildings’ restructuring resulted in layoffs throughout a number of departments, highlighting the monetary challenges AC companies face regardless of the sector’s promise.
Different firms within the house have confronted related struggles. Diamond Age, an Arizona-based startup that was creating robotic homebuilding expertise, has entered liquidation. This comes regardless of Diamond Age’s prior partnership with Century Communities, a significant homebuilder.
There isn’t a doubt concerning the worth of building 3D printing, although the character of that worth may not but be clear. So, as with the gloom related to the broader additive manufacturing sector, the monetary struggles of AC don’t mirror the expertise itself or its potential. Sadly, the area of interest has been topic to the identical macroeconomic scenario as all the things else and, as a result of it’s such a small area of interest, suffered greater than extra mature areas.
Due to the agency’s latest and earlier layoffs, we will possible assume that the funding was a necessary one to maintain the corporate going. As spectacular because the completion of a whole 3D printed neighborhood may be, ICON could also be discovering that its present mannequin as a builder isn’t sufficient to generate revenues. In flip, it’s hoping that promoting {hardware} might be the easiest way to go. Moreover, ICON has a really highly effective buyer within the Division of Protection who might not want to see the startup disappear so quickly.
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