US 3D home printer to set up factories in UAE and Saudi

Mighty Buildings

The UAE and Saudi are set to have 3D-printed prefabricated homes in the coming years, after a US company announced plans to set up factories in the Gulf states.

The move comes after Mighty Buildings, a California-headquartered 3D home construction company, raised $52 million in funding, led by Wa’ed Ventures, the $500 million venture capital fund backed by oil giant Saudi Aramco.

The funding will establish manufacturing operations in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, two of the largest and fastest-growing construction markets in the world, Mighty Buildings said in a statement.

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Other backers in the funding round included US venture firm Bold Capital Partners, existing investor Khosla Ventures and South Korea’s sustainability-focused fund KB-Badgers.

“Our investment in the company reflects our belief that innovative materials, as those used in Mighty Buildings’ proprietary 3D-printing, will be a major driver for scalability and sustainability of homebuilding in the Gulf Region,” said Fahad Alidi, managing director at Wa’ed Ventures.

Mighty Buildings has completed over 50 sustainable and prefabricated housing units to date.

“It will accelerate our growth by funding the international expansion to one of the most exciting homebuilding regions in the world,” added Mighty Buildings’ chief financial officer Rene Griemens.

Mighty Buildings’ factory-based 3D printing manufacturing process speeds construction by three to four times, providing for the completion of a home in less than one week with less water and near zero waste.

The US company opened an industrial-scale factory in Monterrey, Mexico, in 2022 to focus on building communities of single-family homes in various configurations.