Venture Capital: Andreessen Horowitz Leads $30 Million C Round Into New York 3D Printer Shapeways

I'm more interested in the additive manufacturing end of the business that MIT's Technology Review calls one of the "10 technologies we think most likely to change the world" but Andreessen (and Horowitz) are smarter than I*, so maybe there is something to the "Maker Movement" and plastic things à-ma-bob.

From earth2tech:

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz is making a bet on 3D printing in a big way. On Tuesday 3D printing startup Shapeways announced that it’s raised a $30 million Series C round, led by Andreessen Horowitz, and also including existing investors Lux Capital, Index Ventures and Union Square Ventures.

New York-based Shapeways sells 3D printing services to designers and makers and also has an Etsy-like marketplace for creators. The startup, a transplant from the Netherlands, was printing more than 100,000 products a month and had over 150,000 users inside its community last year, so has no doubt grown that audience and volume since then.

Last month Shapeways debuted their new API which enables developers to create consumer facing applications that can tap into the Shapeways printing network and marketplace. That’s important because, as GigaOM Pro analyst Mike Wolf explained it, the API gives Shapeways greater access to the bigger, non-maker audience who want access to 3D printed objects but don’t want to learn how to use sophisticated 3D design software....MORE

*The last time I looked the firm had the second best IRR in the venture biz.