MatterFab
Even with significant funding and a promising vision, a startup needs stable and experienced leadership, a sustainable burn rate, and adaptability to a rapidly evolving competitive landscape to succeed.
MatterFab was a Software & Hardware startup founded in 2013 in United States. It raised $13.2M before collapsing in 2019 — 6 years of runway burned. IdeaProof's AI Failure Score: 0/100, driven by poor management, high burn rate, market shift. The shutdown affected employees, investors, and the broader Software & Hardware ecosystem. This case study breaks down the timeline, root causes, competitors that won, and replicable lessons for founders validating similar ideas today.
Why did MatterFab fail?
MatterFab failed in 2019 after 6 years of operation, losing $13.2M in raised capital. The root cause was poor management, high burn rate, market shift. Key lesson: Even with significant funding and a promising vision, a startup needs stable and experienced leadership, a sustainable burn rate, and adaptability to a rapidly evolving competitive landscape to succeed.
2013 → 2019
$13.2M
Software & Hardware
United States
Causal Chain
This is our reading of the causal chain — separated from the verifiable facts above. Timeline dates, funding numbers and filings are facts (see methodology); root / proximate / terminal attribution is judgement based on public evidence.
The product did not clear the quality/reliability bar required by the market, driving retention and word-of-mouth below the level needed for organic growth.
- Sector context: Software & Hardware in United States, 6 years of runway.
2019: cessation of operations after failing to secure additional capital or a strategic buyer.
Base rates
A single failure is an anecdote. These base rates give you the denominator — how common this outcome is across all startups matching MatterFab's profile. Sources are third-party; we do not restate them as our own claims.
of venture-backed consumer hardware startups do not reach a profitable exit within 10 years — hardware requires atypical capital efficiency to survive.
PitchBook Emerging Tech Research (2023)of startups ultimately fail — including ~10% that fail in the first year and the rest across the following decade.
Startup Genome / CB Insights aggregate (2024)of new US employer businesses survive past their 10th year (Bureau of Labor Statistics BED series).
US Bureau of Labor Statistics — BED (2024)of Series A rounds ever graduate to Series B; the rest run out of runway or pivot without a follow-on.
CB Insights Venture Capital Funnel (2023)Full Analysis
MatterFab, founded in 2013, aimed to revolutionize metal 3D printing by making it more affordable, a market dominated by expensive solutions. The company's vision was to dramatically reduce the cost of metal 3D printers, making the advanced manufacturing technique accessible to a wider array of industries, including aeronautics. They secured substantial funding, totaling $13.2 million from notable investors like GE and AutoDesk, a testament to the initial belief in their disruptive potential. However, MatterFab's journey was plagued by internal instability and financial mismanagement. Both co-founders, Matthew Burris and Dave Warren, departed the company relatively early in its lifecycle (October 2015 and March 2016, respectively). The subsequent management team also saw high turnover, with the CTO leaving in less than a year. This lack of consistent and experienced leadership proved detrimental. Concurrent with the leadership vacuum, MatterFab maintained a staggering burn rate, reportedly spending over half a million dollars a month in 2016, rapidly depleting their significant investment. Furthermore, a critical shift in the market, particularly with a major investor like GE acquiring established metal additive manufacturing companies and developing its own large-scale 3D printers, likely diminished their interest and support for MatterFab's independent growth. This combination of internal instability, profligate spending, and an evolving competitive landscape ultimately led to its demise. The failure of MatterFab offers valuable lessons for startups, especially those operating in capital-intensive and rapidly evolving tech sectors. First, while an innovative idea and strong initial funding are crucial, they are not sufficient without sound and stable leadership. High-turnover in key management positions can destabilize even the most promising ventures. Second, managing burn rate effectively is paramount; an unsustainable spending pace, even with substantial funding, can quickly lead to insolvency. Lastly, startups must remain agile and aware of the broader market dynamics and competitive shifts, particularly when major investors are also players in the industry, as their strategies can profoundly impact smaller, dependent entities.
Could This Failure Have Been Prevented?
IdeaProof's AI validates market demand, competitive positioning, and business model viability in minutes — catching the exact issues that sank MatterFab.
Related Failures
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