Mayor Rahm Emanuel today announced that 3D Hubs, the automated manufacturing platform, will locate its North American headquarters in Chicago. 3D Hubs’ North American headquarters will be located in mHUB at 965 W. Chicago Avenue and plans to open in June. In choosing Chicago as its home, 3D Hubs will be centralizing its US-based workforce in Chicago, and the company plans to double its headquarters team by the end of this year. 

"3D Hubs joins the long list of international companies choosing Chicago for their future,” said Mayor Emanuel.  “With our growing tech economy and strong digital manufacturing community, Chicago is the perfect home for this innovative company.  I look forward to seeing 3D Hubs success in Chicago in the years to come."

Founded in 2013 and based in Amsterdam, 3D Hubs is an automated manufacturing platform. It uses advanced algorithms to increase the speed, improve the quality and reduce the cost of manufacturing custom parts. More than 20,000 businesses worldwide from diverse industries, including aerospace, aviation, energy, healthcare and robotics are using 3D Hubs. Through the 3D Hubs platform, clients can upload CAD files for instant quotes and lead times. Parts are then produced through a network of 250 trusted 3D Printing, CNC Machining and Injection Molding suppliers.

3D Hubs has shipped more than two million customized, high-precision parts to date. Since 2015, 27 percent of Fortune 100 companies have ordered with 3D Hubs.

"Chicago has long been a central hub of American manufacturing and continues to lead the way in innovation. During our visit, we were impressed by the number of initiatives focused on advanced manufacturing automation. This hard-working, forward-looking city is the perfect place for 3D Hubs to grow our on-demand manufacturing platform. We’re excited to be a part of this supportive community and look forward to facilitating the growth of Chicago-based businesses as we work together to accelerate the future of manufacturing,” said Bram de Zwart, CEO and co-founder of 3D Hubs.

3D Hubs will be located in mHUB’s 63,000 square foot innovation center in the West Town neighborhood. Launched in 2016, mHUB is the largest and fastest growing physical product innovation center in the U.S. Its mission is to accelerate industry growth by cultivating a community of collaboration and connectivity between innovators, entrepreneurs and manufacturers. In its first two years alone, mHUB’s member companies generated more than $48.5M in revenue, raised more than $100M in funding, hired more than 780 employees and launched more than 640 products.

“The manufacturing industry in this region is fiercely dedicated to innovation, which is why Chicago is leading the charge in the next industrial revolution,” said Haven Allen, CEO and co-founder of mHUB. “3D Hubs is a dynamic addition to this ecosystem and we are looking forward to supporting their growth.”

From the City’s average of 334 digital start-ups launched per year to expansion announcements from major tech companies like Salesforce and Facebook, tech remains one of Chicago’s fastest-growing industry sectors. 3D Hubs’ announcement follows recent tech company expansions or headquarter relocations from Google, Tegus, DocuSign and BlueCrew, demonstrating the continued growth of Chicago’s robust tech and innovation economy.

“3D Hubs’ decision to locate their North American headquarters in Chicago speaks to the city’s status as a global tech hub and a leader in manufacturing,” said Andrea Zopp, president and CEO of World Business Chicago. “Our thriving tech ecosystem continues to attract top companies and talent from around the world.”

Since 2011, Mayor Emanuel has announced over 250 companies that have relocated headquarters or expanded operations in Chicago, creating over 55,000 new jobs. On March 4, Site Selection magazine named Chicago the top metro area in the nation for corporate relocation and investment for the sixth consecutive year. 

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About 3D Hubs

3D Hubs makes manufacturing easy from prototyping to production. The online platform provides readily available production capacity for the fastest lead times and most price-competitive parts. Simply upload designs to receive instant quotes for 3D Printing, CNC Machining and Injection Molding. 3D Hubs’ automated Design for Manufacturing (DFM) analysis detects any potential issues before production begins, eliminating risk for customers. Founded in 2013, 3D Hubs has produced more than 2,000,000 parts, serving engineering companies of all sizes.  To learn more about 3D Hubs, please visit https://www.3dhubs.com/.

About mHUB
mHUB is the nation’s largest and fastest growing innovation center for physical product development and manufacturing. mHUB is a community of product designers and developers, entrepreneurs, engineers and manufacturers, a network of manufacturing mentors, industry experts and investors and a source of intellectual and economic capital. mHUB is home to more than $5 million in resources including ten unique prototyping labs and microfactory for onsite low-volume production runs. Learn more at mHUBChicago.com.