Velo3D: How A Physical Therapist With A Bogus Resume Parlayed A Failed SPAC And A Sham Relationship With SpaceX Into A $390 Million Dollar Fortune

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Summary<br>Velo3D (NASDAQ: VELO) (“Velo”) is a California-based additive manufacturing company that went public during the 2021 SPAC boom with backing from tennis superstar Serena Williams and SpaceX. SpaceX also served as the anchor customer for Velo’s Sapphire brand of 3D printers. Velo severely missed its SPAC projections and generated consistent losses. By summer 2024, the company was delisted from NYSE and was on the brink of bankruptcy.

In December 2024, little-known Indiana businessman, Dr. Arun Jeldi (“Jeldi”), became CEO of Velo after restructuring Velo’s debt and obtaining control of 95% of its equity. Jeldi claims to be a successful doctor-turned-entrepreneur who bootstrapped a $50 million healthcare company and four other “multi-million dollar” manufacturing companies that he runs alongside Velo.

Under Jeldi’s leadership, Velo’s market capitalization has soared to $537 million based on a renewed focus on aerospace and defense, a supposedly strong relationship with SpaceX, and the launch of its Rapid Production Solutions (“RPS”) division which will purportedly capture higher-margin, recurring revenue from selling 3D printed parts.

Our investigation, involving 16 interviews with industry experts, former Velo3D employees and customers, reveals that Velo’s turnaround is an illusion fueled by a litany of overhyped deals, the aggressive promotion of a SpaceX relationship that largely ended years ago, and the dressing up of Velo’s unreliable technology as market leading. At the top of all this is a “fake it till you make it” CEO who appears to have cooked up virtually every aspect of his past.

The financial media has portrayed Velo as a “proxy trade” for SpaceX exposure, and CEO Jeldi has leaned into this narrative, claiming in December 2025 that SpaceX is increasing its fleet of 3D printers and acquiring parts through Velo’s RPS division. Former employees and Velo’s own disclosures indicate that SpaceX has not purchased a printer since 2022 and that the relationship is virtually non-existent today.

An IP license agreement signed in 2024 allows SpaceX to manufacture its own printers in-house, according to multiple people familiar with the deal. A former senior leader from Velo told us: “I think that any revenue related to SpaceX has pretty much ceased to exist since 2024.”

One former Velo employee told us: “SpaceX has the option now to just build their own machines with the same technology.” Another former Velo employee told us: “I would be pretty skeptical of [SpaceX] buying more printers from Velo, and the reason I say that is, in October of 2024, we licensed them all of our IP. 100% of it … I’d be very surprised if they ever bought another Velo system.”

SpaceX appears to have found an alternative to Velo, according to a former Velo employee who told us: “The reality of that is that Velo is no longer in business with SpaceX … There has been minimal effort on both sides trying to continue that relationship. And the reason for that is that, number one, SpaceX have found an alternative.”

In addition to SpaceX, Velo’s rally has been driven by a new focus on defense, space, and government customers for both its printer and RPS businesses. We believe, however, that this pipeline is stuffed with highly speculative deals that are unlikely to result in significant revenue, while some “prime” defense customers appear to have ended their relationship with Velo.

Deal #1: In April 2025, Velo announced a $15 million RPS deal with Momentus, a company whose stock price has fallen over 97% since its 2021 SPAC deal, and whose management has issued a going concern warning. Almost a year after the deal was announced, Velo has booked zero revenue from the deal, according to its financial statements. A former Velo employee described the deal as a “distraction” and “an effort to create a press release for us, quite frankly.”

Deal #2: In December 2025, Velo announced a $32.6 million deal with the Department of War (“DoW”), which the sell-side characterized as a “significant opportunity” and “evidence” of Velo’s penetration into the defense sector. As of this writing,however, the DoW has funded just ~9% of this program, which is scheduled to end in 3 months, per a government contracting database. In March, a Velo competitor called Nikon SLM won a new 12-month contract under the same program.

Deal #3: In March 2026, Velo announced a $9.8 million contract with the Defense Logistics Agency. CEO Jeldi characterized the deal as “strategically important” and claimed it positioned Velo at the “forefront” of additive manufacturing for the military. In reality, the $9.8 million is a total amount for which 24 successful bidders including Velo must further compete. The contract comes with no guaranteed revenue, and to date, zero dollars have been allocated to Velo under...