Nano receives cash injection

Benny Landa has secured a further US$300m ($438m) cash injection into his nanographic print manufacturing business Landa Digital Printing, with German entrepreneur Susanne Klatten tripling her original US$100m investment, made in 2014.

Klatten’s investment gives her a 46 per cent stake in the business, with Landa himself holding the majority 54 per cent. The Israeli manufacturer says it will use the latest cash injection to finance the expansion of its infrastructure and manufacturing capabilities, as well as its continuing research and development and market development.

Landa says its nano presses which uses tiny droplets of ink will have the quality of offset, the speed of offset and be able to print on offset stocks, but with all the benefits of digital, primarily no makeready and the ability to print variable data.

Landa launched the nanographic concept at drupa 2012, and welcomed some 400 printers who came up with US$10,000 each for a place in the queue. Since then, the technology has progressed at a slower than expected rate, with the company working to overcomer the myriad obstacles in physics and chemistry. However, it has subsequently placed the first beta presses - the S10 single sided carton printing systems - in Israel and Germany.

Heidelberg in the meantime has launched a digital B1 single sided carton press, the Primefire, which uses Fujifilm inkjet heads. Other developers are also running large single-sided digital carton presses, including EFI with its Nozomi, as well as Durst.

This year marks a quarter of a century since the launch of digital printing, with the Landa Indigo and the Xeikon launched at Ipex 1993. Landa went on to sell Indigo to HP 15 years ago for an eye-watering $870m.

Source: NewZealand Printer