3D printed living seawall firm receives $175K NAVSEA grant
Kind Designs, a Miami-based company that is leveraging robotic 3D printing to make seawalls and other shoreline structures, has received a substantial grant from the U.S. Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA). The funding—$175,000 in the form of a Phase I grant—will enable Kind Designs to develop and install living seawalls at a Florida-based Navy research facility to help “protect coastal assets”.
Founded by Anya Freeman in 2021, Kind Designs is driven by the mission to protect coastal environments through the use of Living Seawalls. These structures are 3D printed from a concrete-based material using CyBe technology and function similarly to traditional seawalls in that they help to prevent land erosion, flooding and other damaging phenomena. As “living” seawalls, however, the 3D printed structures integrate more complex geometries to encourage integration with coastal ecosystems. Similar to artificial 3D printed coral, Kind Designs’ Living Seawalls feature a rough texture and undulating structure that both encourages plant growth and gives marine animals opportunities for shelter.
NAVSEA is the latest organization to take notice of Kind Designs’ innovative work; other notable investors include Mark Cuban, who contributed to the startup’s $5 million in seed funding round in 2023. Though the details of NAVSEA’s usage of Kind Designs technology have not been disclosed, we do know that the military department is interested in installing Living Seawalls locally at a research facility to “protect coastal assets”.
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“Kind Designs just won the NAVSEA Grant,” wrote Anya Freeman in a social media post. “We’ll be using the funds to partner with a local Navy Research facility to deploy Living Seawalls at their base and protects essential coastal assets…I can’t wait to see the Living Seawalls in beautiful US bases around the world. We love to contribute to the strength of our Department of Defense!”
3D printing has been key to the startup’s mission, not only enabling the creation of complex concrete structures, but also for providing a rapid and cost-effective production method. According to Kind Designs, it has successfully 3D printed a Living Seawall in less than two hours—reportedly 20x faster than traditional seawall construction. Kind Designs’ Living Seawalls can also be embedded with sensors that collect data and monitor various metrics, like water pH levels and salinity. In addition to Living Seawalls, Kind Designs also makes Kind Tiles, which can be added to existing seawalls, and Living Shorelines, which include 3D printed features like mangrove planters and artificial reefs.
