What is the timeline of SW history?
2007: Shapeways was founded as part of Royal Philips Electronics in Eindhoven by Robert Schouwenburg, Marleen Vogelaar and Peter Weijmarshausen.
2008: Shapeways starts offering 3D printing services to the public, including the marketplace and ability to host shops.
2008-2010: The company sees organic growth and the addition of new materials.
2010: The first round of $5mn funding taken to drive development of the business and Shapeways moves to NYC.
2011: Shapeways raises a Series B funding round of $5mn
2012: A Series B extension raises a further $6.5mn;
Robert Schouwenburg leaves the company;
US facility in Long Island City, New York, opens.
2013: A Series C funding round raises $30mn
2014: Marleen Vogelaar leaves the company
2015: Series D funding of $30.5mn
2018: Final Series E funding round raises $30mn
2021: Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC)-facilitated listing on NYSE net proceeds
02 July 2024: Chapter 7 bankruptcy and liquidation of assets
29 July 2024: Manuevo BV, a subsidiary of WVS International Inc., acquires assets of Shapeways BV, the Netherlands-based division of the defunct Shapeways, Inc.
November 2024: WVS completes acquisition of all available Shapeways, Inc. assets, including the Shapeways brand and www.shapeways.com website.
Short history of Shapeways
Shapeways began in 2007, founded by Robert Schouwenburg, Marleen Vogelaar, and Peter Weijmarshausen as a spin-off from Royal Philips Electronics LifeStyle Incubator. At launch, the company allowed users to upload designs for 3D printing and quickly thereafter built a community model.
The company grew, raising its first $5mn in August 2010, relocating its HQ to New York in December 2010. The first US facility in Long Island City opened in 2012 and the company continued to raise significant equity investments, ultimately going public via a SPAC listing in 2021. One of the three original co-founders, Robert Schouwenburg, left the company in 2012 followed by Marleen Vogelaar in 2014.
After getting into financial difficulty, Shapeways Inc filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in July 2024.
Meanwhile, the Eindhoven division (Shapeways BV) remained stable and profitable, continuing to serve global customers. In 2024, two of the original founders, Robert and Marleen, along with long-time employees, stepped in to revive the company under new ownership.
Who are the new owners
The Shapeways assets that were available for sale after the bankruptcy have been acquired by WVS International, Inc,. and its wholly-owned subsidiary Manuevo BV. WVS is owned by members of the Eindhoven-based management team along with two of the original Shapeways co-founders: Marleen Vogelaar (CEO) who left Shapeways in 2014, and Robert Schouwenburg (CTO) who left Shapeways in 2012.
In July 2024, Manuevo BV bought the available assets of the Dutch division, Shapeways BV, and continued the operations from the Eindhoven facility. In November 2024 WVS International, Inc., acquired the name, website and the available company assets from the US bankruptcy trustee too. The company will start to phase out the Manuevo trading name and trade as Shapeways.
All of the new management team worked at Shapeways at the point the previous management team filed for bankruptcy, or had worked for Shapeways in the years previous to that. The new management team is passionate about preserving the Shapeways brand and bringing back a stable, sustainable business that delivers for its customers.
The new co-owners and management team are:
Marleen Vogelaar – CEO: Co-founded Shapeways in 2007 and left in 2014, former COO/CFO
Jules Witte – COO: Joined Shapeways in 2012 and remains with the company, former Plant Manager
Robert Schouwenburg – CTO: Co-founded Shapeways in 2007 and left in 2012, former CTO
Job van de Laar – Plant Manager: Joined Shapeways in 2019 and remains with the company
Tiago São José – Head of Engineering: Joined Shapeways in 2012 and remains with the company
Why bring back Shapeways?
Fundamentally, we believe the combination of software and digital manufacturing technology can be incredibly powerful in breaking down barriers to the design and manufacturing of parts and products to create solutions for the real-world challenges of our clients
We believe that the Shapeways brand, the value of the Shapeways service and the bigger vision behind Shapeways helps us to realise that mission.
We have started the journey to bring Shapeways home: home to the team that ran the successful and sustainable Eindhoven facility, to two of the original co-founders and to the wider Shapeways community.
As the new leaders our focus is on rebuilding the stable, profitable business that was there all along, expanding it successfully by harnessing responsible entrepreneurship, collaboration and innovation.
Driving innovation that provides solutions to our customers’ and their customers’ challenges is both fun to do and rewarding. We see the impact Shapeways can have and the opportunity to do that responsibly as we begin a new journey. We are especially excited about deploying our technology to offer solutions to the real-world problems of our clients; whether it is a need for optimizing their spare parts portfolio, increasing the lifespan of machinery or making their supply chain more agile. Many of these solutions and products directly impact sustainability and our impact on the world.
Why did Shapeways go bankrupt?
Shapeways at its core was a profitable operational business with a loyal customer base. Strategic direction and investor needs required the company to pursue an aggressive growth strategy with accompanying large overhead expenses and investments. This however did not materialize in any significant revenue growth. The company tried to sell itself to potential buyers and failed to do so without simultaneously taking serious cost cutting measures. The company went out of business as a result of that inaction.
How do we know we can trust the new owners?
The new Shapeways consists of two of the original co-founders who had both left the company by 2014. Along with the Eindhoven facility team, who have always successfully satisfied the customer needs and ran a profitable value based operation, which is attested by the many customers that have already returned over the course of the past few months. We lament what has happened with the bankruptcy but this new team had no responsibility in the strategic choices that eventually lead to that failure.
What happened to my previous IP?
Data: Your data was owned by you and not by the defunct entity. Even though we bought all the available intellectual property of the defunct entity, we did not buy or get access to your data as the trustee could not sell that to any new owner. All data has therefore been lost in the bankruptcy. We take your IP seriously and will only use it to produce your orders. We are putting measures in place to actively protect our new customers’ IP by implementing a system that purges IP that has not been used for a period of time.
NOTE: The trustee in the Netherlands hired an external company to ensure all local devices were wiped before sale, including of all customer IP (i.e., model data). This was a certified process.
Your Shop: Your shop is no longer active. However, you can upload models and order them using our Instant Quote (https://www.shapeways.com/model/material-configurator/upload). We are working hard to bring back our e-commerce integrations with Shopify and Etsy where you will be able to create your own shops, manage your products and get them fulfilled by Shapeways.
You are owed money: If the old Shapeways ownership entity owes you money — for instance store credit as a vendor or shopowner — you can contact the American Trustee with your claim:
Alfred T. Giuliano
Giuliano Miller & Co., LLC
2301 E. Evesham Road Pavillion 800,
Suite 210,
Voorhees,
NJ 08043
USA
Will I have access to my old account?
No, all data was lost in the bankruptcy. Old Shapeways accounts are gone, but all Manuevo accounts and model data will be present through www.shapeways.com going forward
I placed an order on X date, paid and didn't get my part — will you be honouring that order?
You placed your order before the bankruptcy, and your order has been lost in that bankruptcy. We don't have these orders, nor can we back track them as we don't have that data. Part of our customer centered approach is that we would like to hear from you and find out ways to support you in the future.
What are your plans for Shapeways?
Our first focus for Shapeways is and was creating stability and ongoing supply for the clients of the defunct organization. Many were left without a comparable alternative and our team worked day and night to retain and welcome back all of these relationships and deliver the high quality parts they were used to.
Shapeways will enhance and expand its digital manufacturing engine to deliver B2B solutions tailored to spare parts management, custom product requirements, machinery lifespan optimization, and supply chain efficiency. Through strategic partnerships, Shapeways aims to bring these solutions closer to its customers, ensuring maximum accessibility and impact.
Shapeways will expand the foundation of its capabilities to facilitate the above. It will scale operations to the USA, expand the available technology portfolio and further invest in its software technology.
Will you bring back the marketplace?
All data was lost in the bankruptcy and the technology that the marketplace ran on was old and not scalable. Therefore we are actively pursuing new options to bring back this service to the community, but this will take some time and we ask for your patience on this journey.
Will I still be able to get parts in ‘X’ material?
We are still able to serve almost all previously available materials, however we are still in the process of building out the capabilities in the self-serve and the material availability there is limited. We have added FDM to our technologies available. If you want to learn more about what we can offer please look at this page. If you have any requirements currently not available or listed please reach out to sales sales@shapeways.com
I want to work with Shapeways, how do I get involved?
We would love to hear from you. If you have a heart for digital manufacturing and technology and you think your skillset fits our purpose then we would love to hear from you. We are currently hiring and openings will be posted on our soon-to-be-launched careers page. You can also reach out to us on careers@shapeways.com
Why are the old blog posts and press releases still online?
They are part of our history and evolution of the company and as such we will keep them online for now. Any posts before August 1st 2024 might hold outdated or incomplete content.
What happened to the Shapeways OTTO and MFG part of the business?
This was collectively sold in May 2024 and not part of our new business, more details can be found in the official press release here.
You have acquired the EU production facility and physical assets, what happened to those in the US?
The production facilities and physical assets are not part of our acquisition and they have been sold to another party.