Years before founding Rendyr, Kaelum Hasler and Hans Stahl designed and built their own 3D printers from scratch in their basement, while Martin Angst collaborated on architectural research projects employing cutting-edge fabrication technology, such as industrial robots.

As designers, laser cutting more than any other tool had become their go-to for anything from prototyping products to making architectural models.  Laser cutters were by far the most popular machine at the universities they attended, resulting in a long waitlist not only for them, but also for many other institutions and maker spaces as they would learn.  It often reached the point at which the limited availability became a bottleneck when they wanted to prototype and iterate their ideas.  And sadly, personal ownership of one of these heavy, bulky, and expensive machines was a pipe dream.  For some time, Martin and Kaelum even became laser cutter supervisors to gain 24/7 facility access.

Going by the proverb “Necessity is the mother of invention” (by Plato), Kaelum and Hans started creating prototypes for a portable desktop laser cutter they could use anywhere, anytime.  When Martin’s and Kaelum’s paths finally crossed at Virginia Tech, the trio teamed up to develop this idea into what would become Optic - the Portable Laser Cutter.

After learning that many faced the same challenges, their idea turned into founding Rendyr to empower anyone to make incredible things.  Through hundreds of user interviews and building and testing dozens of prototypes, we arrived at the first product that embodied our mission.  We were ready to bring Optic - the Portable Laser Cutter to the world.