Xerox Financing Business Fittle Inks Metal 3-D Printing Pact With Velo3D

Fittle has been looking to expand offerings into adjacent industries that would grow the portfolio outside the traditional copy and print realm, says Daniel Kehr, Fittle’s senior vice president of revenue in the U.S., adding that ‘3-D printing happened to be one of those.’

Fittle, the equipment financing business of Xerox Holdings, has partnered with metal 3-D printing technology company Velo3D to help Velo3D customers finance purchases of its metal manufacturing offerings.

Daniel Kehr, senior vice president of revenue at Fittle in the U.S., said the Norwalk, Conn.-based company has been looking to expand offerings into adjacent industries that would grow the portfolio outside the traditional copy and print realm.

“3-D printing happened to be one of those,” he told CRN. “I had heard a little bit about Velo in the past, and they’re an up-and-comer in the 3-D manufacturing space. So a couple of conversations [were had] and one led to another and it made sense.”

Campbell, Calif-based Velo3D created an innovative end-to-end process that enables customers in aviation, power generation, energy and semiconductor industries to better design and print the parts they need.

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“By partnering with Fittle on this new financing option for our customers, we expect it will make our additive manufacturing technology more accessible for those who might need financing for the capital expenditure of one of our Sapphire printers,” Benny Buller, Velo3D founder and CEO, told CRN via email. “Having this as a built-in option gives us more flexibility in our sales process and for our customers to procure financing.”

By having this new financing option, Buller said contract manufacturers can minimize their up-front investment, enhance their returns and pay off the cost of the machine as they deliver finished parts to their own customers.

Fittle’s Kehr said adding another 3-D printing partnership further shows its customers that it’s no longer a print financing organization.

“We’ve moved into a direction as to where we’re really trying to become a technology financing organization,” he said. “What that means is that if there’s technology out there, we want to make it cutting edge, different and make it available for end customers to acquire.

“For our legacy channel partners, everyone’s had to transition over the pandemic and has really been selling different products and services,” he added. “The idea that Fittle and Xerox financial services can do more than just the copy and print and can also help finance and lease adjacent technology as part of a bundled solution is a win-win for everyone.”

As Fittle gets more comfortable in the 3-D print financing space and builds out its partner network, it will be looking to add more partnerships to its stack.

“As you dive deeper and deeper into the 3-D space, there‘s an abundance of different applications where this can be used,” he said. “There’s a whole bunch of different segments within it so we’re kind of dipping our toes in here because it’s an industry that just makes sense for us.”