New research predicts the overall 3D printing market will grow by 24% to reach $44.5 billion by 2026 and reveals that interest in 3d innovations is skyrocketing around the world. 3D-printed meat is the most popular at 4,500 Google searches per month, and 3d printed fashion is close behind.
3d printed food
3D-printed food averages 9,800 searches a month globally according to the study, and within this category, 3D-printed meat receives 4,500 searches a month. This sector has already been well represented in vegconomist, with several innovators such as Nova Meat of Spain, MeaTech of Israel, Cocuus also of Spain, Mooji Meats of USA, Redefine Meat of Israel, and in the 3d printed seafood category Umami Meats and Revo Foods.
3D printed fashion
3D printed fashion is newly emerging; Karl Lagerfeld was the first designer to bring 3D printing technology into the fashion industry and since then it’s seen phenomenal growth according to Hubs. Fashion designer Zac Posen, working with Hubs parent company, Protolabs, debuted five 3D-printed, wearable pieces at the 2019 Met Gala.
The study finds that interest is highest in footwear, at an average of 5,400 Google searches for 3D printed shoes each month. Adidas’ 4DFWD shoes use a midsole 3D printed by Carbon, and as we reported earlier this month, New York’s Simplifyber recently closed a $3.5 million seed funding round for its garments of the future.
Filemon Schoffer, cofounder & CCO from Hubs.com said: “Overall, we expect to see more signs of growth in 3D printing in 2022 and beyond. Enhanced automation, scalable quality controls, advances in interoperability, reduced material and processing costs and further industry consolidation, among other key factors, will help 3D printing become the robust industrial manufacturing process that befits its massive potential.”
