Velo3D and Aurelia Technologies Announce Strategic Partnership to Advance Additive Manufacturing for Next‑Generation Gas Turbine Systems
Rhea-AI Summary
Velo3D (NASDAQ: VELO) and Aurelia Technologies announced a strategic partnership to apply metal additive manufacturing to next‑generation small‑scale gas turbine systems.
The phased program uses Velo3D’s Sapphire XC platform to evaluate feasibility, develop materials and processes, and progress toward qualification and low‑rate initial production, targeting design consolidation, faster iteration, supply‑chain resilience, and long‑term cost reduction for turbine components.
AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.
Positive
- Strategic partnership with Aurelia Technologies on next‑generation gas turbine systems
- Phased AM program from feasibility through low‑rate initial production on Sapphire XC
- Focus on consolidating multi‑part assemblies into fewer, integrated turbine components
- Aim to reduce dependence on long‑lead forgings and tooling‑intensive processes
- Additive manufacturing enables turbine design changes in weeks instead of months
Negative
- None.
Market Reality Check
Peers on Argus
VELO is up 2.4% while only one momentum peer (KTCC) is also up about 5.41% and other sector peers show mixed moves, indicating a company-specific reaction rather than a broad sector rotation.
Previous Partnership Reports
| Date | Event | Sentiment | Move | Catalyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 13 | Army CRADA partnership | Positive | -9.1% | CRADA with U.S. Army to develop additively manufactured vehicle components. |
| Oct 15 | iRocket partnership | Positive | -3.5% | Expanded AM partnership with iRocket to scale reusable launch hardware. |
| Aug 25 | Army-funded initiative | Positive | -5.4% | Army-funded Aluminum CP1 AM initiative with RTX and Raytheon collaborators. |
| Aug 21 | Navy CuNi contract | Positive | +5.7% | U.S. Navy $6M contract to qualify CuNi alloy on Sapphire XC printers. |
Partnership announcements have often been followed by negative next-day moves despite positive strategic implications.
Recent partnership news for Velo3D shows consistent engagement with defense and aerospace customers. On Jan 13, 2026, a CRADA with the U.S. Army focused on supply-chain challenges saw the stock down 9.08%. Collaborations with iRocket and RTX/Raytheon in 2025 also produced next-day declines, while a $6 million U.S. Navy contract on Aug 21, 2025 was followed by a 5.7% gain. Today’s Aurelia partnership fits this pattern of strategic, technically focused collaborations.
Historical Comparison
Past partnership headlines saw an average move of about -3.07%, mostly negative. Today’s 2.4% gain represents a more constructive reaction than prior deals.
Partnerships have progressed from defense-focused initiatives with the U.S. Army and Navy to broader aerospace collaborations, supporting Velo3D’s role in mission-critical additive manufacturing.
Regulatory & Risk Context
An effective S-3 shelf dated Jan 13, 2026 registers 3,636,363 common shares for resale from a December 2025 private placement. The company is not selling shares under this registration and receives no proceeds from these resale transactions.
Market Pulse Summary
This announcement highlights Velo3D’s strategy of embedding its metal additive manufacturing into advanced energy and turbine applications via Aurelia’s platforms. It extends a series of partnerships with defense and aerospace customers, complementing earlier Army and Navy collaborations. With an effective S-3 resale shelf for 3,636,363 shares and recent equity financing, investors may watch how new design, qualification milestones, and production adoption translate into revenue and margin trends over time.
Key Terms
additive manufacturing technical
turbomachinery technical
AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.
The partnership supports Aurelia's broader continuous‑improvement strategy, one centered on design consolidation, faster iteration, supply chain resilience, and long‑term cost reduction.
The collaboration is important for Velo3D as it underscores the expanding role of additive manufacturing in advanced energy and propulsion systems. By partnering with an innovative turbine developer like Aurelia Technologies, Velo3D further demonstrates how its technology can accelerate product development, unlock greater design freedom, overcome traditional manufacturing constraints and strengthen resilient domestic supply chains.
Aurelia's Engineering‑Led Decision to Adopt Additive Manufacturing
As Aurelia continues to improve its turbine platforms, additive manufacturing has emerged as a practical tool to simplify designs, reduce part counts, and improve robustness in high‑temperature, high‑stress environments. Rather than pursuing complexity, Aurelia is using additive manufacturing to consolidate traditionally multi‑part assemblies into fewer, more integrated components, reducing fasteners, joints, tolerancing stack‑ups, and long‑term maintenance risk.
"Additive manufacturing allows us to simplify designs, reduce failure points, and move faster while staying grounded in proven turbomachinery fundamentals and materials science," said Karol Hricisak, PE, Director of Technology at Aurelia Technologies.
Partnership Scope and Technical Focus
Under the partnership, the companies are collaborating on a phased additive manufacturing program that includes component feasibility evaluation, material and process development, and progression toward qualification and low‑rate initial production using Velo3D's Sapphire XC platform.
Initial efforts focus on evaluating where additive manufacturing can deliver tangible benefits in performance, lead time, and manufacturability across select turbine components and high‑performance alloys, while maintaining a disciplined path toward production readiness.
Strengthening Supply Chain Resilience and Cost Structure
Beyond design and development, additive manufacturing plays a central role in Aurelia's supply chain strategy. By reducing dependence on long‑lead forgings, tooling‑intensive processes, and large inventory commitments, Aurelia is improving responsiveness to design updates and market demand while reducing working‑capital exposure.
Additive manufacturing also enables faster design iteration, allowing geometry updates or feature changes to be implemented and produced in weeks rather than months, an advantage that supports both improvement agility and long‑term lifecycle management.
Why Velo3D
Aurelia selected Velo3D based on its deep experience in metal additive manufacturing, disciplined qualification approach, and ability to support both development and scalable production. Velo3D's expertise in process parameter development, material behavior, and repeatable manufacturing workflows was a key factor in Aurelia's decision.
"Advanced energy systems are pushing the limits of traditional manufacturing," said Michelle Sidwell, Chief Revenue Officer of Velo3D. "Aurelia is taking a thoughtful, engineering‑driven approach by designing with additive manufacturing in mind from the beginning, which is where the greatest impact can be realized."
A Platform for Long‑Term Collaboration
The partnership is structured to support future expansion, including additional applications, qualification programs, and production scaling as Aurelia's platforms evolve. Both companies will continue to evaluate opportunities for deeper collaboration as the initial phases progress.
About Aurelia Technologies
Aurelia Technologies develops highly efficient, fuel‑flexible small‑scale gas turbines for industrial, municipal, and data center applications. The company combines proven turbomachinery principles with modern design and manufacturing approaches to deliver reliable, resilient power solutions.
About Velo3D
Velo3D is a metal 3D printing technology company that enables customers to build mission-critical metal parts. The fully integrated solution includes the Flow™ print preparation software, the Sapphire® family of printers, and the Assure™ quality control system—all of which are powered by Velo3D's Intelligent Fusion® manufacturing process.
Forward-Looking Statements:
This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company's actual results may differ from its expectations, estimates and projections and consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Words such as "expect", "estimate", "project", "budget", "forecast", "anticipate", "intend", "plan", "may", "will", "could", "should", "believes", "predicts", "potential", "continue", and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the expected benefits of the strategic partnership between Velo3D and Aurelia Technologies, the scope, structure, timing and phases of the additive manufacturing program, progression toward qualification and low-rate initial production, anticipated improvements in performance, lead time, manufacturability, design freedom, cost structure and supply chain resilience, the potential for future expansion of the collaboration, and the Company's other expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions, or strategies for the future. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the expected results. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described in the documents filed by the Company from time to time with the SEC, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year-ended December 31, 2025. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Most of these factors are outside the Company's control and are difficult to predict. The Company cautions not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, including projections, which speak only as of the date made. The Company does not undertake or accept any obligation to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statement is based.
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SOURCE Velo3D, Inc.