Evolve Additive Solutions puts its STEP assets up for auction as it shuts down operations

Evolve Additive Solutions, the Minnesota-based developer of the Selective Thermoplastic Electrophotographic Process (STEP), is winding down its operations. Its equipment is now listed in an online liquidation auction run by Grafe Auction, starting with its Edina, Minnesota site.
Bidding on this first catalog closes on September 17, 2026, with further sales covering Evolve’s sites in Rochester, New York and Minnetonka, Minnesota reportedly scheduled for October.

How it started

Evolve debuted in the AM industry in April 2018, when Stratasys announced it as one of two spin-offs, alongside Vulcan Labs. Its STEP technology combines time‑tested 2D imaging with proprietary IP to align incoming layers. It then uses bonding techniques to create fully dense parts with the isotropic properties of injection molding.

Evolve positioned STEP as a volume production solution, claiming cost per part and surface quality comparable to injection molding, at speeds up to 50 times faster than existing AM processes.

Investors followed. The LEGO Brand Group and Stanley Black & Decker took part in a $19 million equity investment in 2018, and a $30 million round led by 3D Ventures brought total funding to $55 million in 2021. That same year, Evolve shipped its first commercial SVP (Scalable Volume Production) system, three years after its debut.

In 2023, the company broadened its model beyond machine sales with STEP Parts Now, a production service launched at Formnext and run with Fathom Digital Manufacturing in the US and alphacam in Germany.

The question now is what happens to STEP itself. Its intellectual property, and the users and service partners who built production around it, will decide whether the technology disappears with the company or finds a new home, as Fortify’s IP did when Tethon 3D acquired it in March.

Exists that occurred in 2026

Since January, we have reported on number of companies that shut down their operations. The consolidation and selective retrenchment described in our 2025 Year in Review now reaches well beyond struggling start-ups:

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