SOMERVILLE, Mass. — December 18, 2019 — Voxel8, a multi-material digital manufacturing company transforming design and production of footwear and apparel, today announced the appointment of Dr. Friedrich “Fred” von Gottberg as president and CEO and to the Board of Directors.
Voxel8’s digital manufacturing technologies revolutionize how athletic footwear, sports apparel, and smart textiles are designed, manufactured and delivered. Unique complex designs and functional features can be incorporated into shoes and other textile products with little or no incremental manufacturing costs. The company’s recently introduced ActiveLab® Digital Fabrication System, an additive manufacturing platform, gives brand owners the power to digitally design and fabricate shoe uppers with unique aesthetics and spatially tailored mechanical properties.
The ActiveLab system fundamentally transforms how footwear and athletic apparel is developed and produced — dramatically shortening design cycle times, reducing manufacturing reorder lead times, and significantly reducing costs for labor, tooling, freight and tariffs. Lowered overall costs also enable athletic footwear companies to establish manufacturing facilities closer to major end user markets, such as North America and Europe, and respond rapidly to changing consumer demand.
Travis Busbee, cofounder and previous CEO, will assume the full-time role of chief technology officer, allowing him to focus on product development and the research and development of innovative new technologies.
“We’re grateful to Travis for his dedicated leadership over the past two years, during which Voxel8 developed important new technologies, introduced our ActiveLab Digital Fabrication System, and won major new customers in the athletic footwear, sportswear and connected devices markets,” said Charles Shalvoy, executive chairman of Voxel8. “At the same time, we’re very pleased to welcome Fred von Gottberg as our new CEO. His strong business, technical, and leadership skills enable us to build on the progress we’ve made to date with our unique manufacturing platform.”
“I’m excited to join Voxel8, and look forward to working with Travis and the rest of the team as the company positions itself for the next stage of growth,” Dr. von Gottberg said. Prior to joining Voxel8, Fred was with Cabot Corp. for more than 20 years. His most recent roles included senior vice president and president, Purification Solutions, vice president and general manager New Business Segments, and vice president and global director of R&D. A chemical engineer by training, Fred has a Ph.D. (ChemE) and M.S. in Chemical Engineering Practice from MIT, and a B.S. (ChemE) from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.
The company also recently announced its Series B financing. Led by DSM Venturing, the venture investment arm of DSM, the round includes participation from HP Tech Ventures and existing investors Braemar Energy Ventures and ARCH Venture Partners.
Voxel8’s multi-material digital manufacturing systems revolutionize how athletic footwear, sports apparel and smart textiles are designed, manufactured, and delivered. Prototyping to production completes in a matter of weeks, letting brands react to market trends and consumer demands in real time. This eliminates cost barriers for limited releases and lowers the cost of volume production simultaneously. Our core technology enables full digital control of shape, mechanics and high-resolution graphics with functional features. Co-founded in 2014 by Harvard University professor Dr. Jennifer Lewis, Boston-based Voxel8 leverages more than a decade of research and 30+ patents on printing structural and functional materials.
Posted December 18, 2019
Source: Voxel8
