Ho Chi Minh City officially informs about the 20 million USD project of Ms. Le Diep Kieu Trang

On the afternoon of July 20, Head of the Management Board of Ho Chi Minh City High-Tech Park (SHTP), Mr. Nguyen Anh Thi, sent a document to VietNamNet detailing the project " Production of 3D printers and software services, product manufacturing services on 3D printers using carbon fiber polymer materials " of Arevo Vietnam Company Limited (Arevo Company).

According to Mr. Thi, the above project has a total investment capital of 19.5 million USD. The project rents a factory to implement at Factory No. 02, Lot I-3B-1, Road N6, High-Tech Park, Tan Phu Ward, Thu Duc City.

By the end of the fourth quarter of 2022, the total investment capital of the project is 7 million USD, of which the contributed capital is 1 million USD and the borrowed capital is 6 million USD. From the first quarter of 2023 to the fourth quarter of 2024, the investor is expected to contribute an additional 12.5 million USD.

Regarding project implementation, from the second quarter of 2021 to the fourth quarter of 2022, the project will operate at 100% capacity in phase 1, expected to reach about 2,812 products/year with revenue of 6.337 million USD/year.

By 2025, the project will operate stably at 100% capacity, expected to reach 4,020 product units/year and revenue of 12,003 million USD/year.

Products provided in phase 1 (2020-2022) are: Aqua 3D printer using Polymer-based carbon fiber, Design and simulation software (Xplorator); phase 2 (2023-2025) are: Polymer-based carbon fiber materials (PEEK, Nylon...) for 3D printing, 3D printing services from carbon fiber.

Mr. Sonny Vu at an international event in November 2022. (Photo: Arevo)

As of May 15, Arevo Corporation has filed a notice to terminate the project. The company explained that the total investment capital implemented was 165.59 billion VND, accounting for 35.9% of the total registered investment capital. Of which, the contributed capital was 23.033 billion VND (equivalent to 1 million USD) contributed by Arevo INC and the mobilized capital was 142.56 billion VND (equivalent to 6 million USD) by investor Arevo INC.

The company has installed the necessary machinery and operational tests have also been carried out, ensuring that the factory is qualified to go into operation in the first quarter of 2021.

The company has also successfully produced 3D printers and sold them in batches at a time. Xplorateor software technology (design, simulation, printer control) has also been fully developed and integrated with 3D printers when sold to customers.

However, the production of polymer-based carbon fiber materials (PEEK, Nylon...) for 3D printing has not been implemented; 3D printing services from carbon fibers have not been implemented either. Notably, Arevo Company has actually terminated the factory lease contract since December 9, 2022.

SHTP assessed that the project has not yet fully contributed the total investment capital of 19.5 million USD according to the Investment Registration Certificate and Arevo Company has not implemented the project at the investment registration location since December 9, 2022, that is, before the end of phase 1 of the project.

Along with that, Arevo Company could not put the phase 1 factory into full operation as committed in the Investment Registration Certificate and could not demonstrate the quantity of products produced as well as the revenue that could be achieved as committed in the Investment Registration Certificate, leading to the project having difficulty continuing to implement phase 2, having to terminate from May 15, 2023.

Arevo Vietnam Company was founded by former CEO of Facebook Vietnam Le Diep Kieu Trang and her husband Sonny Vu. This company once informed about a project to produce bicycles using 3D printing technology, the first monolithic carbon fiber bicycle named SuperStrata. The project advertised itself that, with 3D printing technology, super light carbon fiber material, the bike only weighs nearly 1.3 kg, designed and produced according to the needs of users.

More specifically, Ms. Trang introduced that each Superstrata bike is 3D printed seamlessly to both familiarize the image and riding style of each person. Each frame will be made to fit each person, whether short or tall. The bike is produced using laser and robot technology, operated by a team of creative experts, creating the world's first monolithic carbon fiber bike frame.

That means no screws, no joints, and no glue, just a block of industry-standard carbon fiber, made from the highest-grade composite of any bike on the market. The frame is so light it weighs less than two water bottles.

However, recently, when put into actual use, the SuperStrata bicycle product has received many complaints about its quality. Customers reported that the delivery of the bicycle was delayed for many months; the bicycle was ordered for thousands of USD but upon receiving the bicycle, they discovered that the material of the bicycle was not as promised, the bicycle details were poorly finished, and even unsafe... When consumers complained to the manufacturer, they only received silence, without a clear explanation.

According to the website, Superstrata, the world's first monocoque carbon fiber bicycle, is a product of Arevo's 3D printing technology. This product was funded on Indiegogo, reaching the milestone of 1 million USD in sales within the first 24 hours and reaching 7.5 million USD within 3 months.

Questions about transparency in Le Diep Kieu Trang's 3D printed bicycle project . Blocking customers asking questions, saying it was a gift but emailing thank you emails for purchasing, the recipient having to pay taxes... are unclear issues that make Le Diep Kieu Trang's 3D printed Superstrata bicycles still have many questions.

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