Almi Invest invests in N-Ink

Almi Invest is investing 3.3 million Swedish kronor in n-Ink, which develops an innovative eco-friendly ink for printed electronics, such as solar cells. Navigare is the main investor in the total emission of 13.3 million kronor. The funds will be used to scale up and expand sales, as well as to further develop new eco-friendly conductive polymers.

Printed electronics, which involve printing conductors or semiconductors on materials such as paper, are developing rapidly and enabling improved and entirely new components and technologies in society. They can be used, for example, to create more efficient solar cells, better capacitors, and various sensors for the human body in life sciences. The market for printed electronics is largely driven by climate change, and the goal is to create environmentally friendly electronics with high recyclability and more efficient production methods.

To create good semiconductors, materials that can conduct positive charges and materials that can conduct negative charges are required. However, today there are almost exclusively inks that conduct electricity via positive charges.

Now, n-Ink has found a solution to this through its new patented ink. The stable ink is based on eco-friendly substances and conducts electricity in the form of electrons, which are negative charges.

The innovation is the result of ten years of work by Professor Magnus Berggren and Associate Professor Simone Fabiano and their research team at Linköping University.

n-Ink's innovation is groundbreaking and can be compared to when a way was found in the 1960s to create transistors and integrated circuits, which was a prerequisite for the entire digital revolution," says Pär Carlshamre, Investment Manager at Almi Invest. "In my years and within my technology areas, I have rarely come across a company with greater potential than n-Ink."
The company will now develop and sell its ink to large chemical and electronics companies on the world market. In a first phase, n-Ink will focus on three verticals - polymers, capacitors, and solar cells - and already has several large customer companies that have purchased small quantities for analysis and evaluation.

"We are very pleased with this investment," says Johannes Bintinger, CEO of n-Ink. "With Navigare and Almi Invest on board, we can now take the next step in our development and seriously begin to launch our ink on the market. Both investors are also familiar with research-based deep-tech innovations and how to bring them to market."