M Ventures (the venture capital arm of Merck KGaA) has announced that it has made an investment in ClearInk’s C Round of financing, which began in mid-2017, with co-investments from strategic investors in China, Taiwan and the US. (Clearink: “We Look Forward to Astonishing You”)
ClearInk has developed ePaper 2.0, which claims to be the world’s first reflective display that will be colour and video/internet capable. The company targets the education and wearable markets, where traditional display technologies aren’t a fit. According to the company, concerns are growing about the lack of outdoor readability with traditional displays, forcing schools to educate children in poorly-lit classrooms, and the detrimental impact of long-term exposure to backlights.
Analyst Comment
Merck has previously worked with Merck under joint development agreements, in 2012 and again in 2017 and the company believes that this equity investment is an endorsement of its work. M Ventures said that it expects to see products coming to market using the ClearInk technology in 2019. I’m a firm believer in the concepts behind ClearInks displays, and approach. (BR)
