The serial entrepreneurÉder Medeiros, known in the market for having founded theBest Shipping, startup acquired by Locaweb for R$ 83 million in 2020, has just allocated R$ 1 million of its own investment to launch theMaker Marketa platform aimed at strengthening national production, reducing dependence on imports, and encouraging the Brazilian industry through decentralized 3D printing technology.
The project proposes a new digital manufacturing infrastructure, connected, on-demand, and accessible to any region of Brazil. The Maker Market proposal is to connect three profiles: 3D model designers, 3D printer owners (makers), and e-commerce shopkeepers.
"Our platform was born with the perception that there are many 3D printers idle, with unused production capacity, and that could be useful to someone, producing items focused on e-commerce. Increasing the utilization of these devices means avoiding so much importation into our market. Additionally, our goal is to reduce the price charged for the manufactured items, making the final value proportional to the amount of time taken and the material used for their production," comments Éder Medeiros, CEO and founder of Maker Market.
Based at Pelotas Technology Park (PPT), Maker Market was born with the purpose of contributing to the reindustrialization of the country, becoming the on-demand production infrastructure for the next generation of makers, designers, and shopkeepers.
How it works in practice
The Maker Market allows any online store to sell physical products without needing inventory, using a network of local and automated production. When a sale occurs, the system activates the nearest maker to print and deliver the product on demand.
The idea behind the collaboration network is that the retailer takes photos of printed products, within their own catalog of about 10,000 items, along with their descriptions, and uploads them to their online store. "If the seller has a decoration business, for example, they will choose decoration items from our catalog, add them to their e-commerce, and set the price with the margin they want. And as each sale is made, they can open a print request within our platform. Thus, this print order will be directed to the most suitable makers for the buyer," explains Medeiros.
"The first maker to accept this order will print the respective product, place it in packaging, attach a shipping label from our partners at Melhor Envio, and send it to deliver to the final buyer," adds the CEO of Maker Market.
The company will also operate in sustainability initiatives, developing processes for reusing waste generated within the 3D printing supply chain itself—such as supports and production failures—promoting efficiency and alignment with circular economy principles.
In addition to the platform, the startup will build a 500 m² research and development plant, where more than 50 employees — including at least 30 researchers — will lead projects in materials, hardware, and advanced 3D printing processes. One of the focuses is the development of high-fidelity colored resins, currently nonexistent in Brazil, with the potential to replace imported raw materials and enable local production with an industrial finish.
Acting in agribusiness and industrial sectors
Another strategic axis of the company will be the development of affordable metal printing technologies, aimed at on-demand production of technical parts. The proposal includes applications in agribusiness — such as spare parts for tractors and machines — but also serves industrial sectors that face long lead times, obsolescence of components, or the need for customization.
With this technology, it will be possible to manufacture custom-made, domestically, items that currently depend on imports or large minimum volumes. The plant will be the first of its kind in Brazil dedicated to metal additive manufacturing aimed at the end customer (B2C).
"We want to connect makers across the country, people with 3D printers, and in the future, the idea is to have at least one user in each city in the country able to print. All connected through our website, which will also feature a network of designers who will create 3D models of products, as well as a network of retailers. This is how the future will be printed," concludes Medeiros.
The startup already has institutional support from UFPEL, through the Conectar incubator, the Superintendence of Innovation and Interinstitutional Development – INOVA, the Tecnosul Scientific and Technological Park, and other agents of the local innovation ecosystem. It also maintains dialogue with industrial and financial entities to enable its plant and national expansion, as well as seeking collaborations with public funding initiatives to accelerate its technological development and expand its impact.
