The 300 Club

One of the smaller and youngest companies on this list is Nano Dimension, an Israeli 3D printed circuit board specialist founded in 2012. It’s a very exciting time for the company, who also develops 3D inkjet, 3D software and nanomaterial solutions. While 2015 figures are hard to come by, they have started 2016 off very well – with Q1 revenues of $7.628 million.

The company itself also sees a lot of opportunities. “The first quarter was an extremely exciting time for Nano Dimension, during which the company continued to gain momentum and solidify its position as a leader in the 3D printed electronics industry. A standout moment from the quarter was the company’s listing on the NASDAQ in March. In addition, the company filed for several new patents to advance its proprietary technologies and announced a new collaboration with Tel Aviv University,” said CEO Amit Dror. And as their DragonFly2020 3D Printer is expected to make a huge splash, a lot is happening over in their Israel HQ. Valued at $55 million already, Nano Dimension is a name that we will be hearing a lot more in the near future.

Overview

Nano Dimension (TASE:NNDM,NASDAQ:NNDM) is a technology research and development company focused on advanced 3D electronics printing and nanotechnology-based ink products. The company’s lead products are the DragonFly 2020 3D printer, which is designed to print multi-layer professional printed circuit boards (PCBs), and advanced nanotechnology-based conductive and dielectric inks.

Nano Dimension’s team consists of forty-five talented experts across a wide-range of disciplines including mechanical design, hardware, software, 3D printing, physics and chemistry. The company has received a total of $1.8 million in grants from the Israeli Office of the Chief Scientist at the Ministry of Economy to support the development of 3D PCB printer technology.

Sales of Nano Dimension’s 3D printer are slated to begin in 2H 2016. The company was recently included in the “Cool Vendors in 3D Printing, 2016” report by Gartner, Inc. “The 3D printing market is extremely crowded, so we feel being named affirms that we have developed a truly disruptive product that will fundamentally change the way electronics are designed and manufactured,” said Amit Dror, Nano Dimension CEO and Co-Founder.

Investment Highlights

• Positioned to become a world leader in the growing market of 3D printers dedicated to electronics.
• Unmatched enterprise level 3D printer for production of complex multi-layer PCBs for prototyping.
• Industry-changing reduction in wait time for PCB prototype with in-house printing technology.
• Manufacturing and distribution agreements with global leaders, Flex and Fathom
• Strong IP strategy protecting print process, materials and software.
• Strong balance sheet – raised over $15 million in 2015.
• Sales expected to begin in H2 2016 for DragonFly 2020 3D Printer.
• C-level managers are the co-founders of the company and are the main shareholders.

Market Perspective

With its unique 3D printing technology, Nano Dimension is targeting the PCB market which is forecast to reach an impressive $93 billion market size by 2017, according to research by BPA Consulting Lucintel and EDAcafe. Growth drivers include the booming demand for electronic devices which require increasingly sophisticated features such as smartphones, wearables and touchscreen tablets.

Demand for PCBs—which are basically the heart of every electronic device—covers a diverse range of industries with the most potential for opportunity seen in the consumer electronics, medical devices, military tech, aerospace, automotive and telecom sectors. Within these industries, Nano Dimension estimates that paid annual licenses for PCB design software (eCAD) total as much as one million—representing a huge pool of potential customers in need of the rapid prototyping offered by Nano Dimension’s DragonFly 2020 3D Printer.

Lead Product: DragonFly 2020 3D Printer

The DragonFly 2020 brings the advantages of 3D printing to the professional electronics world.

Nano Dimension’s “A-team of experts” has developed a desktop-sized 3D inkjet printer and software package that provides a well-crafted solution to two major challenges for professional electronic PCB companies.

Challenge 1: Intellectual property (IP) at risk when prototypes sent to third-party manufacturers.

• Solution: 3D printing of PCB prototypes in-house
• Benefits: Strong IP protection

Challenge 2: Long wait times (often several weeks) for third-party prototype manufacturing.

• Solution: In-house 3D printing of PCB prototypes in a few hours
• Benefits: Reduced time to market; Increased innovation

Nano Dimension’s award-wining DragonFly 2020 is the only professional 3D printer on the market that is capable of in-house prototyping of multilayer PCB designs—giving it a strong position in a virgin market with significant growth potential. “For designers and engineers looking for ultra-rapid prototyping of PCBs, our 3D printer is a significant leap forward,” states Amit Dror, CEO and Co-Founder of Nano Dimension. “The ability to print PCB proto-types in-house in a matter of hours without having to send design files out to factory is completely unheard of in today’s industry.”

Today’s PCBs require perfect precision and the proprietary software component of the DragonFly 2020 system is designed to ensure the printing process delivers a highly conductive, durable end product—whether you’re printing a portion of a circuit or an entire circuit board. The printer uses advanced inkjet printheads that contain hundreds of small nozzles which allow for very exact deposition of proprietary nano-particle inks.

Nano-ink technology

The DragonFly 2020 printer uses Nano Dimensions proprietary nano ink technology produced at the company’s two fully-equipped ink laboratories, one of which produces highly conductive silver nano-particle inks and the other insulating dielectric inks. The inks are specifically designed for producing highly sophisticated PCBs. The company’s one-part, nano-epoxy insulating dielectric inks are well-suited to meet the needs of advanced electronics manufacturers who require both rigid and flexible circuits.

Nano Dimension’s AgCite™ line of nano-particle inks is based on a wet-chemistry process for which the company has an exclusive license from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The inks are comprised of extracted particles of pure silver and display excellent conductivity. By controlling the shape, size and distribution of silver particles Nano Dimension’s team of scientists can formulate the inks to uniquely match customer specifications in terms of conductivity, adhesion and flexibility for use across a range of substrates including paper, polymers, glass and ITO.

The company’s AgCite™ nano-particle inks, believed tp have the highest conductivity in the industry, are also available for purchase separately from the DragonFly 2020 3D printer. Their suitability for industrial applications such as solar energy, radio-frequency identification (RFID) and organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) provide another stream of revenue for Nano Dimension outside of the PCB market.

Switch software package for Dragonfly 2020 3D Printer

Presents a new dimension for creating and designing electronic circuits.

Nano Dimension’s Dragonfly 3D printer uses an integrated software package called Switch to prepare production files of printed electronic circuits. The company completed the development of the initial version of the software package in July 2016. Switch supports customary file formats including Gerber, VIA and DRILL, and facilitates a highly precise conversion to a 3D file format.

“In order to minimize production time, Nano Dimension strives to provide its customers a comprehensive solution to 3D print multilayer PCB prototypes: our novel 3D printer, advanced conductive and dielectric nano-inks, and now – an advanced software package for the management, editing and printing of electronics files,” said Dror. “The software is designed to allow the engineer to create the production files for automat 3D printing, with no intermediate files. It’s now easy to ‘Switch’ from Gerber to 3D files.”

Advancing concept of 3D BioPrinter for Stem Cells

In collaboration with Accellta Ltd., Nano Dimension has successfully lab-tested a proof of concept 3D Bioprinter for stem cells. The market for 3D bioprinting is expected to grow from a market size of USD $481 million in 2014 to as much as USD $6 billion in 2024.

“Accellta and Nano Dimension have joined forces in this initial trial to evaluate and adapt the joint potential of our technologies,” said Dr. Itzchak Angel, Chairman and CEO of Accellta. “We hope and believe that this will bring the mutual capabilities and know-how of both companies to create 3D bioprinting solutions that combine a high precision, high-throughput printer with dedicated bio-ink technologies, derived from stem cells. By enabling high precision 3D bioprinting and differentiation of stem cells into required tissues, our combined technologies have the potential to enable vast areas of development.”

In June 2016, Nano Dimension filed a U.S. patent application for the 3D printing of human tissues and organs by using stem cells and inkjet technology. The application covers the converting of MRI and CT scans and resulting images to create 3D structures that can then be printed in a 3D printer adapted to biological materials.

What’s next for Nano Dimension?

Nano Dimension signed an agreement with Flextronics International to manufacture and supply the DragonFly 2020 3D PCB printer.

Nano Dimension plans to begin its first batch of 3D printer sales in late 2016 and expects to deliver at least 10 printers to Tier 1 clients by early 2017. “Our go-to-market strategy is to maintain high customer satisfaction by ensuring we deliver each customer a perfectly designed, functional product,” explained Dror. “Our customer base is comprised of market influencers who will help us build our reputation as we scale up the sales in 2017.”

The company has also recently signed a collaboration agreement with FATHOM, an industry-leading advanced manufacturer, distributor and one of the best performing 3D printing service providers in the United States. Under the agreement, FATHOM will help Nano Dimension introduce the DragonFly 2020 3D Printer to the West Coast area including the Silicon Valley.

“FATHOM will help bring us even closer to our key customers because it is well known as one of the most creative and best performing 3D printing services companies in the country,” said Simon Fried, Nano Dimension Chief Business Officer. “With headquarters in San Francisco, close to the heart of the country’s electronics industry, FATHOM is well positioned to promote and service such an innovative 3D inkjet system.”

Intellectual Property Portfolio

• 14 Patents:
  • 3 patent families—Conductive inks, Prof. Magdassi, Hebrew University
  • 11 patents—Systems, printing process, software, materials
• Additional IP:
  • Nickel nanoparticles, collaboration with Prof. Markovich, Tel Aviv University
  • Developing nano copper ink

Management

Amit Dror—Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder

Amit Dror is a project leader with extensive experience in company and account management. Dror has a background that covers technology management, software, business development, fundraising and complex project execution. Past positions include executive roles with 8200, ECI, Comverse, Eternegy and Milk & Honey Distillery. He is a graduate of the Merage Institute.

Sharon Fima—Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder

Sharon Fima is a print technology development expert with many years in advanced R&D management positions. Fima’s knowledge of digital printing technology has developed over nearly 15 years spent at the cutting edge and covers a range of technologies, including inkJet technology, 3D printer production and nano-silver ink development. Past positions include advanced research and development management at HP Indigo and Xjet.

Dagi Ben-Noon—Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder

A mechanical engineer with extensive experience designing equipment for military and civilian clients, Mr. Ben-Noon’s areas of expertise include plastics, medical devices, communications systems, print technology and more. He has extensive experience with supervising product maturity from the development stage through to mass production.

Past positions include roles with CardioArt, Polycad and Rotel Product Engineering. Mr. Ben-Noon received a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Ben-Gurion University.

Simon Fried—Chief Brand Officer and Co-Founder

Simon Fried is an experienced strategy consultant and marketing advisor. His experience was developed over the course of a 15-year career working for both multinationals companies and start-ups spanning a range of industries, including financial services, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), automotive, retail, medical devices and software. Past positions include roles with Monitor Company, Financial Services Authority, Oxford Risk, Mountainview, Oxford University, Eternegy and Milk & Honey Distillery. He received a MBA from Hautes Etudes Commerciales de Paris, a MSc. in Behavioral Economics from Oxford and a BSc. in Risk & Choice from University College London.