3D Companies to Invest In: Nano Dimension Receives All Approvals to List on NASDAQ

Last week, the Investing News Network spoke with Nano Dimension (TASE:NNDM,OTCQX:NNDMY) CEO Amit Dror about the unique benefits and challenges of becoming a public company through a reverse merger. He also gave the inside scoop on his company’s decision to begin the process of listing on the NASDAQ.
Since then, the company has received all of the approvals required to uplist its depositary shares to the NASDAQ, and will start trading on the exchange in a few days under the symbol NNDM. In this second part of INN’s interview with Dror, the CEO explains how Nano Dimension fits into the 3D printing space as a whole. Read on for his thoughts.

Market potential for 3D printing companies

According to a recent Gartner report, 3D printer unit shipments will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 121.3 percent through 2019; during the same period, annual average spending on these units will grow 72.7 percent. Essentially, that means sales of 3D printer units are set to ramp up as educational institutions and businesses increase their purchases, with sales exceeding $14.9 billion in 2019. 

Best 3D companies to invest in

So how can investors choose the best 3D companies to invest in this time around? For Dror, one key factor is recognizing the difference between companies that create “cool stuff like domestic consumer printers that are able to create nice gadgets … and the ones that are creating tools that cannot be created in any other way.”
He used Stratasys (NASDAQ:SSYS) as an example of that second type of 3D printing company. It manufactures 3D parts for the Boeing (NYSE:BA) 787 Dreamliner, and according to Dror, those parts can only be created with additive manufacturing; that means there is a much stronger market for these products.
Nano Dimension also fits into that second category of 3D printing companies. Its novel proprietary technologies enable the use of advanced conductive and dielectric inks for ultra-rapid prototyping of complex multilayer printed circuit boards. Dror said that this technique allows for the creation of products that simply can’t be made via conventional subtractive manufacturing.

Strong demand for Nano Dimension’s DragonFly 2020

Nano Dimension’s 3D printer, the DragonFly 2020, is an accurate, versatile inkjet deposition system for creating professional multilayer circuit boards. The machine is the result of advanced hardware, novel software and dedicated nano inks, which are also available for purchase separately from the 3D printer.
As Dror explained, “essentially you have two materials that are relevant when you create a printed circuit board: a dielectric material and a conductive material. What we’ve done is used very unique IP in the world of nanochemistry to create two different inks: one that’s extremely conductive and another that we call nano-epoxy.” Together, these materials allow the DragonFly 2020 to create incredibly precise and accurate PCBs through additive manufacturing.
The company’s focus on novel materials seems prescient considering the direction of the 3D printing market in 2016. A Markets and Markets report shows that the 3D printing market for silver was 20.01 tons in 2013 and is expected to grow to 61.28 tons by 2019. That represents compound annual growth of 20.5 percent between 2014 and 2019.
Meanwhile, the 3D printer itself has clear benefits. The DragonFly 2020 allows companies to keep their IP in house when working on prototypes, speeds up R&D time by cutting out the middleman and saves companies money. Nobably, Nano Dimension is receiving lots of buzz from companies dealing with consumer electronics, the military, the IT and telecommunications sector and manufacturing. Overall, it seems as though Dror has laid his finger on the future of 3D printing and is inviting investors to come along for the ride.