AUSTIN / MILAN, June 26th, 2024 – Caracol, leader in robotic large format additive manufacturing, announced today the appointment of industry leader Rajeev Kulkarni as new Board President.
Kulkarni joins Caracol and its fast-paced growth journey to support the company’s global international expansion. He will help focus on supporting the scale up of its US Operations, as the company keeps on building its leadership in North America with direct operations, a local team, and a strong partner network. For Kulkarni, this step comes after three decades of work in leadership roles in additive manufacturing and technology companies, from 3D Systems, to Protochips, and, currently, as the Chief Strategy Officer of Axtra3D.
“We are very happy to have Rajeev join us as our new Board President; his extensive experience and deep knowledge of the industrial manufacturing landscape will play an integral role in supporting our international scale-up process with a strong focus on our quickly growing North American Operations. He has contributed significantly to leading the industry forward and we are very excited to see how his extensive experience can support us in the next phase of Caracol’s growth,” says Francesco De Stefano, CEO and Co-founder of Caracol.
As an industry veteran, Kulkarni carries invaluable knowledge, having played an instrumental role as a pioneer in developing 3D printing technologies and in scaling their use industrially across a multitude of sectors, such as industrial, healthcare, and consumer. Moreover, Kulkarni has established a distinguished track record in both angel investing and entrepreneurship. He has co-founded two prominent angel funds aimed at supporting startups and has been appointed by the NC State Governor to provide counsel on fostering statewide entrepreneurship.
“As a new member of the Caracol team, I am excited by the immense potential and opportunities that LFAM presents. This approach to Additive Manufacturing is revolutionizing the production of large-scale components by reducing costs, lead times, and improving structural integrity through single-piece manufacturing. Its versatility in using a range of materials allows for customized applications, driving functionality and performance. I am particularly impressed about Caracol’s approach to having first started with a strong focus on applications and then transitioning the business model to that of an OEM. This enables the company to balance multiple business models, diverse revenue streams and demonstrate doubling growth with each passing year. I look forward to working with a very complementary executive team and a board that is focused on building significant economic and strategic value,” says Rajeev Kulkarni.
US-based, Kulkarni will allow Caracol to boost its growth globally and further deliver its technological solutions to solve clients’ needs, ultimately helping enhance the company’s trajectory as leading provider of industrial manufacturing technologies for industrial large-scale 3D printed parts in North America and internationally.
CARACOL
Caracol was founded in 2017 in Milan, Italy, with the vision of pushing the limits of additive manufacturing in terms of scale, efficiency, and sustainability. The company accomplished this by developing an integrated technological platform, including both hardware and software, to produce advanced large-scale components. Through the integration of a patented extrusion head, the development of a dedicated software, and the use of robotic arms as movement support, Caracol offers an additive manufacturing technology for advanced components for customers in industries such as aerospace, marine, energy, design, and architecture. Heron AM manufactures parts such as jigs and molds for aircraft components, finished parts for yacht and boat superstructures, or revolutionary projects to initiate virtuous circular economy processes for the energy or design sectors. Today the company has opened the largest LFAM production center in Europe, a new production facility in Austin (TX), USA opened in August 2023, and has a core team of over 80 international professionals with highly specialized competences, in areas such as mechanical engineering, automation, computational design, design for additive, and advanced manufacturing processes.
