海角直播

Innovative 3D printing business attracting overseas interest

A trio of young entrepreneurs are attracting interest from across the Atlantic with their innovative 3D printed gaming products.

Hobgoblin 3D was founded by three BA (Hons) Computer Games Animation graduates from 海角直播 and is based at the University鈥檚 business incubator, 海角直播 Launchpad. Kevin Miree, Jordan Knights and Lawrence Williams have used the 3D design skills learned on their degree to develop a suite of blueprints for characters and assets for fantasy tabletop board games.

The blueprints can then be downloaded by boardgame enthusiasts and printed on 3D printers in their own home.

Since setting up the business in September last year, Hobgoblin 3D has attracted considerable interest from across the world and has signed cross-promotional deals with Prusa, a major manufacturer of 3D printers, and Filaprint, a leading filament manufacturer.

Kevin said: 'We鈥檙e getting a huge amount of interest in our products from social media.

'We sell a lot of our blueprints over third party websites with the bulk of our business coming from America.

'There aren鈥檛 many businesses doing what we do, so there's a fantastic opportunity for us in the printables arena.

'At the moment, 3D printing is still in its infancy but it is constantly growing. Like a lot of technology, prices are continually coming down while the capabilities of the equipment are increasing.

'It's a fantastic time for 3D Artists, and I can foresee a time when most houses will have their own 3D printers.

'Hopefully our business will be perfectly placed to take advantage of that.'

海角直播 Launchpad is based in the Victoria building on the University鈥檚 Middlesbrough campus and, as well as offering flexible business accommodation for start-ups, provides a space where entrepreneurs can interact and share ideas and opportunities.

The team won a place on the Launchpad FUEL programme which offers graduates of the University who are in the early stages of developing a business idea up to 拢10,000 worth of grant funding to develop their product or concept.

Hobgoblin 3D also received assistance from the DigitalCity Fellowship programme, which offers entrepreneurs with innovative businesses up to 拢5,000 to support their business expenses during the initial development stage.

Kevin added: 'The help we鈥檝e had from Launchpad and DigitalCity has been invaluable and we wouldn鈥檛 be here without the assistance from the University. 'We really would encourage all graduates to think seriously about setting up their own business. The support we鈥檝e had has really helped take us to the next level.'

Laura Woods, Director of The Forge, 海角直播鈥檚 business hub, said: 'We鈥檙e delighted to have helped Hobgoblin 3D on the road to business success.

'They are developing some really innovative products in a rapidly growing area of the market and we look forward to seeing their business develop.'

• enterprise
• business
• start-up
• launchpad