Headmade Materials and the EIC Accelerator: Cold Metal Fusion

Headmade Materials wants metal 3D printing to move from prototypes to volume production. Headmade Materials, a company founded in 2019 in Unterpleichfeld near Würzburg, developed ColdMetalFusion: a metal powder bound in plastic that standard plastic laser sintering printers can shape at low temperature, after which the part is debound and sintered into solid metal, as in metal injection moulding.

The European Innovation Council granted €2,099,562 towards a €3.00 million project to take the process towards mass production; the company announced €5.85 million from the EIC in total. By the project's end in March 2024, Headmade reported four commercial materials, eight printer models qualified and an industry alliance of 12 partners. The company is still active in the German register, but its public news stops in November 2024 and it publishes no sales figures.

Where Headmade Stands Today

German register data compiled by North Data show Headmade as active, with a capital increase in July 2024, a management update in February 2025 and annual accounts filed up to February 2026. Its news page ends in November 2024 with the release of Inconel 625 and titanium aluminide. Earlier in 2024 it announced a partnership with the printer maker Nexa3D and the AutoSmooth research project with AM Solutions and Neue Materialien Bayreuth.

The Technology: Printing Metal Without Melting It

In ColdMetalFusion, metal powder is coated with a polymer binder. A printer built for plastic parts sinters the binder at low temperature to form a "green part", which is then freed of binder and sintered in a furnace, the same finishing steps used in metal injection moulding. In November 2023 it reported a cutting tool holder made with the process by Utilis and MIMplus with a "185% performance increase".

What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows

The CMF project promised "metal additive manufacturing with sinter-based Cold Metal Fusion technology for mass production of metal parts". The CORDIS report lists four commercial materials, four project-based materials and six in beta, feedstock qualified on eight printer models from makers including EOS, Farsoon and Nexa, two turnkey offers called LabSystem and JobShop, nine patent filings and the ColdMetalFusion Alliance of 12 industry partners. It gives no customer numbers, production volumes or revenue.

1. More materialsDeliveredFour commercial, more in beta.
2. A wider printer baseDeliveredEight printer models qualified.
3. An industrial ecosystemDeliveredAlliance of 12 partners.
4. Mass production of partsNot shownNo volumes published.

What Has Happened Since the Award

The Money

In January 2022 Headmade announced EIC support of €5.85 million without splitting it into grant and equity; CORDIS records the grant at €2.10 million. In February 2022 it closed a €2.5 million Series A led by AM Ventures with btov's Industrial Technologies Fund. The register shows a further capital increase in July 2024. In October 2025 Headmade closed a €1.8 million round led by Jet Ventures, with Matterwave Ventures, AM Ventures and the European Innovation Council, to develop new materials, support more printers and scale applications.

Why Europe Should Care

ColdMetalFusion runs on plastic printers and the debinding and sintering steps of metal injection moulding, and its named users include metal injection moulders such as MIMplus. The project report says the EIC-funded work added to the material range and built the alliance around it.

The Verdict

Headmade Materials has not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on company statements, EU project data and German register information, linked throughout.