Note 1 - Nature of Business

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Note 1 — Nature of Business

Organization and business

Proto Labs, Inc. and its subsidiaries (Proto Labs, the Company, we, us, or our) is an online and technology-enabled manufacturer of quick-turn, on-demand 3D-printed, computer numerical control (CNC) machined and injection-molded custom parts for prototyping and short-run production. The Company’s customers are product developers and engineers throughout the world who require a faster and less expensive way to obtain low volumes of parts. The Company’s proprietary technology eliminates most of the time-consuming and expensive skilled labor conventionally required to quote and manufacture parts in low volumes, and its customers conduct nearly all of their business with the Company over the Internet. The Company targets its product lines to the millions of product developers and engineers who use three-dimensional (3D) computer-aided design (CAD) software to design products across a diverse range of end-markets. The Company has established operations in the United States, Europe and Japan, which the Company believes are among the largest geographic markets where these product developers and engineers are located. The Company’s primary manufacturing product lines currently include 3D Printing (Fineline), CNC Machining (Firstcut) and Injection Molding (Protomold). Proto Labs, Inc. is located in Maple Plain, Minnesota. The Company’s subsidiaries are:

Name	Location

PL-US International LLC	United States
Proto Labs Ltd.	United Kingdom
PL Euro Services Ltd.	United Kingdom
PL International UK LLP	United Kingdom
PL International Holding UK Ltd.	United Kingdom
PLJ Ltd.	United Kingdom
Alphaform Ltd.	United Kingdom
PL DE Holding GmbH	Germany
Proto Labs GmbH	Germany
Proto Labs Eschenlohe GmbH	Germany
Alphaform RPI Oy	Finland
Alphaform Sweden AB	Sweden
Proto Labs, G.K.	Japan