The lie that there are no funds for print businesses, that the banks flinch like Superman from kryptonite when approached by printers, is shown to be at best only partly accurate by events this week. In Belgium, private equity has taken on Xeikon, seeing the potential of the unique technology it is developing, while in the UK a printer has received £10 million in equity funding.
This follows similar PE investment deals in Germany and Italy in the current year, so not all print is considered a poor investment. The thread that lies across all three (not so much for Xeikon as that is a technology business) is the internet. The worldwide web is not killing print, but providing it with huge opportunities. A quick glance at VistaPrint, at Moonpig, at OnlinePrinters, at Pixart and now at York Mailing, shows that where print and the web can be tied together, the glitter of the new technology rubs off on the old.
It is not necessarily easy for a capital bound litho printer to leap into the virtual world, but when talking to a funder it makes more sense to stress the vital role the internet plays in your business rather than the equally vital role a five-colour B2 press does. Online job submission, web based proofing, web to print, are evidence of exploiting the power of the web and can make a bank manager weak at the knees. At worst it’s about making business processes more efficient and saving money. At best it can transform you into a new, and highly investible, print/internet enabled business.
Comment
Gareth Ward has been the editor of Print Business since its second issue in 2005. For fifteen years before that he was editor of leading industry weekly Printing World. Because of this he has a unique 360-degree perspective on the industry.
Comment of the week: Funding
Gareth Ward muses on the subject of funding.
The lie that there are no funds for print businesses, that the banks flinch like Superman from kryptonite when approached by printers, is shown to be at best only partly accurate by events this week. In Belgium, private equity has taken on Xeikon, seeing the potential of the unique technology it is developing, while in the UK a printer has received £10 million in equity funding.
This follows similar PE investment deals in Germany and Italy in the current year, so not all print is considered a poor investment. The thread that lies across all three (not so much for Xeikon as that is a technology business) is the internet. The worldwide web is not killing print, but providing it with huge opportunities. A quick glance at VistaPrint, at Moonpig, at OnlinePrinters, at Pixart and now at York Mailing, shows that where print and the web can be tied together, the glitter of the new technology rubs off on the old.
It is not necessarily easy for a capital bound litho printer to leap into the virtual world, but when talking to a funder it makes more sense to stress the vital role the internet plays in your business rather than the equally vital role a five-colour B2 press does. Online job submission, web based proofing, web to print, are evidence of exploiting the power of the web and can make a bank manager weak at the knees. At worst it’s about making business processes more efficient and saving money. At best it can transform you into a new, and highly investible, print/internet enabled business.
Gareth Ward has been the editor of Print Business since its second issue in 2005. For fifteen years before that he was editor of leading industry weekly Printing World. Because of this he has a unique 360-degree perspective on the industry.
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