The Society of Plastics Engineers has acquired a for-profit French media and events company focused on the 3D printing and additive manufacturing markets called 3Dnatives that has more than 1.2 million platform visitors.
Founded in 2013 to report on the latest trends, the platform became popular for its business directory with more than 200 companies, jobs and events boards, 3D printing price comparisons, business-to-business consulting and event management.
3Dnatives grew into the largest international online media platform focused on 3D printing and its applications, according to its website.
The unique feature about 3Dnatives is that all content is created for specific markets in each regions' native language, according to SPE CEO Patrick Farrey.
"Content is not 'Google translated,' it is all original stuff written by different 3Dnative team members from that country. There are currently specific platforms in French, Italian, Spanish, German and English with more planned. Events are also hosted in each of those five languages," SPE CEO Patrick Farrey said in an email announcing the acquisition.
The deal makes sense for several reasons, Farrey said, noting that SPE and 3Dnatives are both in business to create and disseminate technical information for plastics professionals and that SPE has a 3D printing technical interest group that will value the new content.
The acquisition also expands SPE's footprint in Europe.
3Dnatives cofounder Alexandre Martel and Chief Business Officer Filippos Voulpiotis will attend SPE's ANTEC 2023 event to talk about the platform and how it supports businesses. The event is March 27-30 at the Hilton Denver City Center in Denver.
