Fracktal

Fracktal Works is a Bengaluru (Bangalore), Karnataka-based 3D printing and digital manufacturing company that designs, engineers and manufactures its own FDM/FFF 3D printers in-house, including mechanics, electronics, firmware and slicer software. Its range comprises the plug-and-play Snowflake desktop machine (up to 280 °C, 200 × 200 × 200 mm), the connected Julia professional desktop printer (IoT, integrated camera, 60 µm resolution), the high-speed hybrid CoreXY Dragon (up to 600 mm/s, build envelope up to 700 × 400 × 400 mm), the Twin Dragon with independent dual extrusion (IDEX) up to 600 × 600 × 400 mm, and the high-temperature Volterra with a 450 °C hotend, 90 °C actively heated chamber and support for carbon-fibre-filled and other engineering polymers. A production-grade selective laser sintering machine, Apollo SLS, is announced as launching soon. Accessories include the MDS1 material dryer for up to three 1 kg filament spools and PrintStick, a temperature-responsive, water-soluble bed adhesive.

Alongside hardware, the company operates an on-demand manufacturing floor: customers upload CAD files, receive a design-for-manufacturability analysis and quote, and get parts made via FDM, SLA, SLS, HP Multi Jet Fusion, vacuum casting for short runs of 1–25 units, and CNC machining, with stated working accuracies from ±0.5% (FDM) to ±0.1% (CNC) and more than 20 production materials. A third line of business covers design and engineering services — CAD, design for additive manufacturing, process parameters, reverse engineering, UAV work and IIoT — plus machines, materials and a sponsorship programme for labs, classrooms and student research.

Customer and application references published by the company include Cisco ThingQbator, Ashok Leyland (casting pattern-making) and TVS Motor Company (on-demand spares for obsolete models); press coverage additionally names Cisco, Toshiba, Larsen & Toubro and Omega Elevators as clients. The company has also announced a partnership with Karnataka's Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage applying 3D technology to heritage conservation, and work with the Ministry of Heavy Industries and IISc Bangalore on an Indian SLS 3D printer under a Rs 8.5 crore grant.

Founding story

Fracktal Works was founded in June 2013 in Manipal by two engineering students at Manipal Institute of Technology, Rohit Asil and Vijay Raghav Varada. While building robots with the university robotics team Robomanipal they found the manufacturing they needed was either unaffordable or of insufficient quality, turned to 3D printing as a workaround, and applied their robotics background to build their first printer. The first generation of Julia 3D printers was assembled at their first laboratory at the Manipal University Technology Business Incubator (MUTBI) in 2013. The name derives from "fractal" — a recursive, infinitely complex pattern the founders saw as an analogue for 3D printing — and the "FW" logo is based on the impossible objects drawn by Swedish artist Oscar Reutersvärd.

Business model

Fracktal Works operates as an original equipment manufacturer selling 3D printers and accessories (material dryers, bed adhesive, consumables) directly and through authorised resellers across India, while also selling on-demand 3D printing and manufacturing services, and design and engineering services. Machines carry a 12-month warranty with service, spares and support provided from Bengaluru. Printer prices are quoted rather than listed because configurations vary.

Revenue comes from sales of 3D printers and accessories, per-order on-demand parts manufacturing quoted from uploaded CAD files, and paid design/engineering services. In an early interview the company cited a revenue run rate of Rs 40 lakh per annum with a target of at least Rs 1.5 crore in sales by the end of that fiscal year.

Traction

The company reports more than 7,000 parts printed on its own floor, over 800 customers served, more than 20 materials in production, and a range of six to seven machines. Early press reported 40 printers sold in its first year and 40 printers sold within the first three months of the following year, with clients including Cisco, Larsen & Toubro and Omega Elevators. It holds a 4.5 average Google review rating.

Latest developments

The company has announced seed funding from Aarin Capital and the MEMG (Manipal Education and Medical Group) Family Office LLP, and a joint effort with the Ministry of Heavy Industries and IISc Bangalore to create India's first SLS 3D printer backed by a Rs 8.5 crore grant. It also announced a partnership with Karnataka's Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage on 3D technology for heritage conservation. Its Apollo SLS production-grade laser sintering machine is listed as launching soon.