The DIVA startup received a 3 million Russian rubles (almost $40,000) grant as a part of the “Start” program by the Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises (FASIE). It seems that this is going to be a competitor to the well-known Modix-120X 3D printer.
The project involves development of the 3D printers focused on large-format additive manufacturing. The startup is led by Ivan Vasilyev, resident of a student business incubator called “Druzhba” of Tomsk State University of Control Systems and Radioelectronics (TUSUR). Previously, Ivan successfully finished a regional acceleration program by TomskHUB and ended up in third place. The team already manufactured and tested a prototype of the industrial 3D printer called DIVA-5, according to the press-center of TUSUR.
First two models of the printers, DIVA-1 and DIVA-2, were designed for educational purposes and are supplied to Kaliningrad, Saint Petersburg, Krasnoyarsk region and Kemerovo. Some of the components are manufactured locally, the rest are produced in China.
The DIVA-5 3D printers will be equipped with a more efficient extruder and a print plate with a zoned heating solution that will result in energy savings when printing small objects. The main possible use-cases of the new additive systems is making large-format prints. For example, advertising signs and banners. The DIVA-5 will cost around 320,000 rubles (a little over $4,000).
