Since 2015, Mesago, the organizer of Formnext, has allowed us to discover young companies that are shaping the industry through its famous Start-up Challenge. While for participating up-and-coming companies, this was an opportunity to expand their network, exchange ideas with experts from the AM industry, and find potential partners or investors, for the rest of us in the community, it was an opportunity to understand future directions the sector was taking.

After 9 editions of the Formnext Start-up Challenge, Mesago is going one step further with a new concept that highlights this industry’s talents and ideas: the Formnext Awards. Officially launched in July of this year, the Formnext Awards are an evolution of the Start-up challenge as it goes beyond supporting start-ups and new companies to include well-established AM companies, individuals and initiatives through new categories.

Sascha F. Wenzler, Vice President for Formnext at Mesago Messe Frankfurt GmbH explains:

“From this year, we will continue to support entrepreneurs, who have just started a business and are on their way to becoming members of the fAMily, but also incorporated 5 additional categories to highlight:  

  • Entrepreneurs, who are one step before founding their business or entering the market (Rookie Award)
  • Individuals and initiatives that help the widespread adoption of AM (AMbassador Award)
  • Designs that leverage the full potential of Additive Manufacturing (Design Award)
  • Exceptional products, technologies and services from the Formnext exhibitors ((R)Evolution Award) and
  • Sustainable approaches based on a complete life cycle assessment of the product (Sustainability Award).”

However, one major difference with the Formnext Start-up Challenge is “the involvement of visitors at Formnext as well as on-site visitors and other communities who cannot attend Formnext in Frankfurt. Everyone who wishes to support their favourite finalist can give them their vote to help them take home the 3D-printed trophy as well as cash and non-cash prizes,” Wenzler adds.

Just like the Formnext Start-up Challenge, the Formnext Awards have attracted professionals from around the world. With entries from Europe, Israel, India and North America, the submission phase is also indicative of the regions where AM continues to mature. While it is not surprising to see participants from Europe, and North America – as a matter of fact, the finalists of the awards are coming from those regions – which already host the biggest number of AM players, participants from Israel and India remind us of the need to pay attention to innovations and players that are silently paving the way for AM (in those regions).

Moreover, given the reputation of the Formnext Start-up Challenge, it is not surprising to see a great number of entries for the Start-up category.

For the Vice President for Formnext at Mesago Messe Frankfurt GmbH, it is “a strong indicator that there is still a lot of development going on and ideas being generated by great young minds.” “We are very happy to be able to give them a platform to enter the market by providing a booth to each of the 5 finalists and with the help of our sponsors hand over a cash prize to one happy winner live at Formnext 2024,” Wenzler continues.

Who are the finalists?

As this is the first edition of the Formnext Awards, it’s hard to identify specific trends that could shape the industry. However, for the team at Formnext, the entries received mirror the industry’s efforts to provide more industrial solutions.

Furthermore, “the range of technologies and use cases is very impressive comprising new production processes, complementing the AM process chain with postprocessing solutions and quality management as well as applications from the energy sector and automotive, but also the medical and dental sectors,” Wenzler notes.

While we will provide further information about each of the finalists in dedicated articles, we could already reveal the finalists’ names in each category below. “The beauty of competitions like the Formnext Awards is that well-seasoned industry players compete side by side with new members of this industry,” Wenzler comments.

Start-up Award supported by AM Ventures: New technologies and applications

The Start-up Award supported by AM Ventures recognizes inspiring young companies with viable business models. The finalists of this category are:

  • AM Craft Group designs and manufactures 3D-printed, small-batch aircraft interior components.
  • Amsight promises to reduce the costs of AM quality management by 70 percent with its software.
  • Axolotl Biosciences has developed TissuePrint, a research-grade, xeno-free bioink for 3D Printing of human tissue models.
  • Micro Factory 3DSolutions specializes in the development of resin-based SLA 3D printers.
  • Supernova Additive has developed the Viscous Lithography Manufacturing (VLM) technology, which can handle highly viscous materials up to 1 million cP.

Rookie Award: Medical and dental take center stage

The Rookie Award honors individuals with promising business ideas who have either not yet founded a company or who launched less than a year ago. The finalists of this category are:

  • Enki Interdentalis has developed a 3D-printed, customized dental splint that improves oral hygiene by using a water-air mixture to remove food debris and plaque from between the teeth.
  • Fidentis is a start-up that has developed a multi-material Additive Manufacturing solution with an integrated robotic arm that produces prostheses based on a digital model.
  • Oryx Medicals is developing an innovative, additively manufactured aortic valve that is set to revolutionize the treatment of aortic valve stenosis.

Sustainability Award supported by Renishaw

The Sustainability Award supported by Renishaw recognizes AM applications and products beyond the pure production process based on their product life cycle. The finalists of this category are:

  • Baker Hughes is helping to reduce the environmental impact of the energy sector with additively manufactured components for gas turbines.
  • Ceratizit has developed a unique process for the binder and sinter-based Additive Manufacturing of hard metals.
  • Stratasys enables the holistic and sustainable production of high-quality footwear in the luxury segment with its J850 TechStyle 3D printer.

Design Award supported by cirp

The following finalists in the category Design Award supported by cirp impressed the judges with their exceptional AM designs and AM products:

  • Siemens presents an innovative reactor design for greater sustainability in the chemical industry.
  • Quorum Orthopedics is revolutionizing prosthetics with a customizable, ergonomic solution produced by MJF (multi jet fusion) printing.
  • The ILEK and ISW institutes (University of Stuttgart) are contributing to the implementation of low-carbon technologies in the construction industry with advanced and sustainable design solutions.

(R)Evolution Award supported by 3D Printing Industry

The (R)Evolution Award supported by 3D Printing Industry is presented to pioneering products, technologies or services that demonstrate special added value for the user. The finalists of this category are:

  • AMSystems promises to deliver high resolution and productivity at any build volume with the patented design of its MLP (multi-laser patterning) modules, which feature a combination of multiple tightly focused laser beams.
  • Fraunhofer Institute for Casting, Composite and Processing Technology IGCV: The new three-material processing technology using powder bed fusion makes it possible to manufacture battery cell housings from aluminum, copper, and ceramic in a single production step.
  • Toolcraft has developed a method for the efficient removal of support structures in metallic 3D-printed components using dry ice blasting.

AMbassador Award: Entertainment, teaching and science


The AMbassador Award recognizes outstanding individuals or organizations who have had a unique impact on the industry and users through innovative training and education approaches or personal advocacy. The finalists of this category are:

  • Stanley Tong has developed a corporate tailored additive curriculum, built a network of cross company subject matter experts, and made additive technology accessible to thousands in his lab for one of the world’s biggest automakers.
  • 3D Printing NerdHe informs a broad global audience about AM and shows how everyone can get involved in the next industrial revolution with his entertaining YouTube show.
  • The University of Stuttgart has developed innovative dental bone grafts together with dentists from the Medical Center – University of Freiburg.

Get involved and meet the finalists

Copyright Mesago Messe Frankfurt GmbH

As announced above, whether you will attend Formnext or not, you can get involved in this Formnext Awards competition by voting for the winner of each category. Votes can be cast until November 21st, at 12:00 hrs (CET) on the Formnext website.

While those who cannot attend the event can watch the live stream on the Formnext LinkedIn page, attendees onsite can discover the Formnext Awards showcase and learn more about each finalist in hall 11.0 booth F61, from November 19 to 22, 2024.

“The Start-up finalists have their booths. Some are conveniently located in the start-up area right next to the showcase (hall 11.0 booth D62), while others have already outgrown the area. If you would like to congratulate the winners in person, we would also like to invite everyone to the award ceremony on Thursday, 21 November 2024, 16:20 hrs (CET),” Wenzler concludes.

This content has been created in collaboration with Formnext. Featured image: Mesago Messe Frankfurt_Mathias Kutt