Seattle-based 3D laser engraver maker Glowforge is making another pitch to home crafters with another lower-priced machine, the company announced Tuesday.
Less than a year after the release of the $1,200 Aura — designed to attract a wider audience of consumers — Glowforge is releasing the new Spark, which will sell for $699.
Glowforge’s two higher-end machines include the Glowforge Plus ($4,995) and Glowforge Pro ($6,995).
The Spark is a little smaller than the Aura, but is built around the same laser technology, capable of cutting materials ranging from paper to leather to wood. The bed size of the Spark is 8 inches by 12 inches. The Aura works a little faster and also features a 12-inch wide bed, but it also has pass through capability that allows for unlimited length on materials.
The Spark runs the same suite of Glowforge software available on all other machines, including Magic Canvas, an AI image generator released last year.
In a nod to the startup’s roots, which began with a record-setting $27.9 million crowdfunding campaign in 2015, Glowforge is conducting a one-month presale of the Spark through its website, dropping the price to $599.
“The thinking behind that is getting a little bit back to our grassroots origins,” said Rebekah Bastian, Glowforge SVP of product and marketing. “Glowforge started with the most successful crowdfunding campaign at the time. What was really powerful about that was leaning on our community to spread awareness and growth.”
After the presale, it will be available through retail partners such as JOANN, Michaels and Best Buy.
Glowforge was co-founded by CEO Dan Shapiro, with fellow startup veterans Mark Gosselin, the current CTO, and Tony Wright, who left the company in 2017. Shapiro previously sold the startup Sparkbuy to Google, and he created Robot Turtles, a coding board game for kids.
Ranked No. 23 on the GeekWire 200 index of of Pacific Northwest startups, Glowforge has raised $135 million to date from investors including DFJ Growth, Foundry Group, Revolution Growth and True Ventures.
The startup has been hit by back-to-back rounds of layoffs, including 30 job cuts in December and an unspecified number of cuts in early February after an investment round fell through.
Last fall, Glowforge filed a lawsuit against a Las Vegas man who claimed online for years that the startup is selling defective and dangerous machines. The company filed a motion in February to dismiss the suit against Jonathan Gleich, a self-described tech enthusiast and activist who had been critical of Glowforge on Facebook and other internet forums.
