ICON raises an additional $185 million

Austin-based 3D printing startup ICON has raised an additional $185 million supplementing its $207 million Series B funding led by Tiger Global. With a total of $451 million raised in equity, the startup has been backed by prominent investors including Norwest Venture Partners, 8VC, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), BOND, Citi Crosstimbers, Ensemble, Fifth Wall, LENx, Moderne Ventures and Oakhouse Partners. However, there is an absence of clarity on the investors who contributed to the recent funding. According to an anonymous source of TechCrunch, the valuation of the firm is approaching $2 billion.

Founded in 2017, ICON aims to attend to the growing housing crisis using 3D printing technology to produce ‘resilient, energy-efficient homes faster than conventional construction methods with less waste and more design freedom’ and provide affordable housing to the average man.

In March 2018, ICON was the first company in the U.S. to secure a building permit for and build a 3D-printed home.  To date, ICON has built over two dozen 3D-printed homes in the US and Mexico, the majority of which were for the homeless or those living in chronic poverty. One such project was in partnership with non-profit organization New Story to build 3D printed homes in Mexico. Further, the firm has built 3D-printed barracks for the Texas Military Department to house the troops during training.

Since its inception, the firm has witnessed a 400% annual growth in revenue. Following the Series A funding in August 2020, a radical increase in demand for 3D-printed homes and structures has been observed.  “We have already stood up early-stage manufacturing and are in the process of upgrading and accelerating those efforts in order to meet demand for more 3D-printed houses even as we close the round,” said ICON’s co-founder and CEO- Jason Ballard. He added, “In the next five years, we believe we will be delivering thousands of homes per year and on our way to tens of thousands of homes per year.”

ICON’s future entails building the largest community of 3D-printed homes comprising 100 homes in partnership with Lennar, one of the largest home construction companies in the United States, and LENx, an existing investor of the startup.

Ballard claims that the plans also include working with NASA to create infrastructure and habitats on the moon, and eventually Mars. At present, ICON has two ongoing projects with NASA.