The Dutch start-up, which began as a graduate project created by TU Delft students Chandrasekar and Van der Veen, has raised €1 million ($1.2 million) in its current round of investment.
Inkless, a company which “enables black and white printing without cartridges or toners”, has managed to amass a hefty €1 million ($1.2 million) investment., an amount which will enable the company “to reach a competitive printing performance.”
The sum was raised with the aid of “a group of Angel Investors”, as MENAFN reveals.
“With this money we can make our technology ‘development-ready’, which means that we can meet the required quality and speed performance requirements so that we can begin with the development of our first product,” explained Arnaud Van der Veen, co-founder/CEO of Inkless.
Inkless is a technology which will be utilised in the packaging and labelling printer market, though it can also have a much broader application, with the potential to be used in “production printers, office printers, consumer printers and receipt printers.”
Arnaud Van der Veen stated, “The printing of barcodes, shelf life data and product codes on packages and on the labels will form the ideal market for us to start in. This is because this market is currently being dominated by black-white printing and also because this market will highly profit from the growth of online retail. More and more packages are being shipped and all of these have to be provided with printed text and barcodes.”
The company is currently in the process of putting together a roster of potential customers who will most benefit from its inkless technology.
“We are looking for innovative-thinking companies that print lots of packages and/or print labels, and that find it important that their company processes are sustainable,” commented Van der Veen.
The implementation of Inkless obviates the need for ink, cartridges and other printing consumables, as well as the requirement for special thermal coatings, bringing both an environmental and financial benefit to businesses.
As Van der Veen explains: “I always compare this to the transition from the analogue camera to the digital camera. Suddenly people were able to make unlimited photos and it was not needed to replace the films. Likewise, with our printing solutions, refill and replacement of ink and consumables will not be needed.”
While the current amount of investment amassed by Inkless will help with the development of the technology, preparations for the next financing round have already commenced, with the money raised from this to be funnelled toward making the actual product.
“This next round will either be financed by strategic partners or Venture Capitalists. The first meetings have already taken place,” said Van der Veen.
