The dental trade is going through mounting strain to extend manufacturing effectivity, significantly in markets the place centralized manufacturing is changing into the norm. In response to this demand, Novenda Applied sciences has simply raised $6.1 million in funding to remodel dental product manufacturing with its revolutionary multi-material 3D printing know-how. This progressive answer goals to reinforce high-quality dental care, making it extra aesthetically pleasing, accessible, and reasonably priced.
The $6.1 million Collection A funding spherical was led by Brightlands Enterprise Companions with participation from KBC Focus Fund (Belgium), Borski Fund (NL) and Limburg Enterprise Growth Fund/LIOF (NL) in addition to a bunch of angel buyers and an Innovation Credit score from RVO.
Novenda Applied sciences was based in 2019 by Klaas Wiertzema, Petra Doelman and Joost Anne Veerman following intensive market analysis and collaboration with dental professionals. The founders performed intensive consultations with dentists, dental technicians, and different stakeholders to develop the proper answer for the market. By 2021, the corporate had put in its first printer on the Excessive Tech Campus in Eindhoven, attaining its first multi-material print utilizing its proprietary software program and supplies. This milestone marked the start of an intensive improvement course of, resulting in a profitable proof of idea for nightguards and dentures in 2023.
The corporate’s full-stack know-how allows the manufacturing of extra snug, natural-looking dental merchandise that mix exhausting supplies for cover with tender supplies for consolation – all in a single piece. This represents a elementary shift in dental product manufacturing. Whereas conventional strategies require guide meeting and post-processing, the corporate’s platform seamlessly combines a number of supplies in a single print run, using water-soluble helps that dissolve with a easy faucet water wash. Most importantly, Novenda Applied sciences has developed good print modes that obtain exact layer management with out mechanical rollers—a limitation that causes ink contamination and restricts color capabilities in competing programs.
Klaas Wiertzema, CEO and co-founder of Novenda Applied sciences, commented: “The mix of water-soluble assist and the absence of mechanical interventions to compensate for imprecision ensures unprecedented long-term accuracy and eliminates the necessity for intensive post-processing. That is significantly essential in a world the place dental technicians have gotten more and more scarce and costly.”
The platform’s impression is already evident. Its progressive color administration algorithm achieves limitless color potentialities utilizing just some base colors, whereas sustaining superior mechanical properties that guarantee merchandise gained’t break throughout use. The system can produce as much as 15 nightguards and eight dentures per hour, making it perfect for mid-size and huge dental labs. Whereas Novenda’s LD100 printer represents a one-time funding, the LD100 works completely with its personal supplies to make sure high quality and biocompatibility, producing recurring income whereas sustaining strict high quality requirements.
The timing of Novenda’s answer coincides with a big shift within the dental trade. The workflow for producing dental prostheses is changing into more and more digital, with oral scanners changing guide impressions. Nonetheless, current manufacturing strategies haven’t saved tempo with this digital transformation, usually requiring substantial guide intervention. In a number of nations, this problem is driving a pattern towards centralized manufacturing amenities, the place Novenda’s automated platform is anticipated to have a big impression.
Olga Goor, Funding Supervisor at Brightlands Enterprise Companions, added: “As lead investor, Brightlands Enterprise Companions is proud to assist Novenda Applied sciences on this subsequent part of progress. Their multi-material jetting know-how is a breakthrough in digital dentistry, enabling scalable, high-precision manufacturing with minimal waste and post-processing. This innovation not solely units a brand new high quality customary for dental merchandise but in addition enhances the affordability of dental take care of sufferers who can not afford options at the moment accessible in the marketplace. This may in the end drive the transformation of the dental trade in the direction of a extra sustainable and equitable future.”
Novenda Applied sciences has constructed a crew of fifteen specialists throughout physics, chemistry, materials science, and software program engineering. These disciplines work carefully collectively in a spirit of collaboration and belief, somewhat than in a spirit of competitors and management mechanisms. Their improvements are protected by a number of patents, with extra within the pipeline. Early suggestions from the trade has been distinctive, with specialists noting that the floor end and aesthetic look of Novenda’s evening guards are “the most effective we now have seen,” and a few even suggesting that “multi-material jetting is the longer term in dental.”
“Having an thought for a disruptive know-how is just the start. Realizing this imaginative and prescient requires the proper folks, the proper drive, and the proper crew spirit,” added Klaas Wiertzema. “At Novenda, we don’t simply say that individuals are our most essential asset – we reside it. We’re deeply dedicated to fostering a tradition that stimulates and helps our crew, guaranteeing that each member is motivated and empowered to realize the extraordinary. This drive for excellence is mirrored in our strategy to offering clients with essentially the most dependable and user-friendly printers, mixed with the most effective assist they might want for.”
Trying forward, Novenda plans to broaden its platform to different dental functions and finally enter new markets the place individualized mass manufacturing is essential. The corporate’s speedy focus is on deploying its know-how in giant and mid-size dental labs throughout Europe and the US, the place its high-throughput, automated answer can assist meet rising demand.
“At KBC Focus Fund, we spend money on deep-tech corporations that push the boundaries of innovation, and Novenda is a major instance of this. Their groundbreaking multi-material jetting know-how has the potential to remodel the dental trade by enabling the cost-effective, high-quality manufacturing of dental merchandise with minimal waste and post-processing necessities. We’re excited to assist Novenda on this subsequent part of progress as they bring about their pioneering options to market and redefine digital dentistry,” concluded Nuno Carvalho, Funding Director at KBC Focus Fund.
