Dr. Ahsan Zahid leads the Immensa Labs Project
Immensa Labs, a startup specializing in additive manufacturing, has set its sights on the Middle East with its new project. The company will provide a space where scientists and engineers can bring their ideas to life and test them in an environment allowing consumer validation. Saudi’s Immensa Labs is one of the first projects of its kind in the region. It aims to create an open innovation environment for ideation, research and prototyping by bringing together scientists, researchers, product developers, and manufacturers under one roof.
Dr. Ahsan Zahid leads the Immensa Labs project, a 20-year veteran of the additive manufacturing industry who has led startups, consulted at GE, and served as a professor at King Abdulaziz University’s College of Engineering.
Vision The project is being developed in two phases: Phase 1 The first phase involves the creation of two separate Additive Manufacturing Centers with a total floor space of approximately 8500 sq. ft. in an existing research park in the Kingdom. The centers will employ more than 20 dedicated personnel to operate the facility and its custom-built equipment from start to finish. Phase 2 The second phase involves constructing one state-of-the-art Additive Manufacturing Center on an 800,000 sq. ft. plot of land in Madinah to be built by a local partner.
Benefits The regional centers will provide some of the best expertise across the industry and allow for the production of prototypes that can then be validated by users in the region, with the potential for further commercialization through licenses and partnerships with existing manufacturing companies and startups.
Reasons for Innovation There is tremendous potential for Innovation in this region, particularly because it’s young demographic makes up nearly half of the world’s population under 35 and its fast-growing economy. It also represents a new frontier for additive manufacturing, with a potential market size larger than Western Europe.
Partners & Investors Immensa Labs has partnered with GE to design and implement the centers and other regional strategic partners. The startup has also received investment from Myria Ventures and the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), among other institutions.