With nearly 3.5 billion people globally affected by oral diseases and dental care costs continuing to rise, the dental industry finds itself at a critical inflexion point. From digital oral scanners to AI-driven diagnostics, innovation is transforming dentistry, but one area has lagged behind: manufacturing. That’s where Novenda Technologies steps in, backed by a fresh $6.1 million in Series A funding.
The round was led by Brightlands Venture Partners and included KBC Focus Fund (Belgium), Borski Fund (Netherlands), and the Limburg Business Development Fund (LIOF), as well as select angel investors. The Dutch government’s Innovation Credit from RVO also played a key role, signalling both private and public belief in Novenda’s mission to reshape how dental prosthetics are produced.
Challenges tackled by Novenda
Talking to TFN, Klaas Wiertzema, CEO and co-founder of Novenda Technologies, said that the company tackles two challenges. Firstly, it eliminates the need for manual post-processing steps after printing. The company has developed a water-soluble support material that can be easily removed from the printed object with normal tap water. No manual interference is required, whereas competitors use support materials that require mechanical force, and therefore manual labour, to be removed and/or dirty solvents to wash them away.
Talking about the other challenge is the control of the flatness of each printed layer for the right accuracy of the printed products. Competitors use a roller to flatten each layer. This mechanical interaction leads to ink pollution in the printer, and by smearing out materials, sharp gradients (in material properties or colours) are not possible to print. Novenda developed print modes that include a brilliant lay-down pattern of droplets, resulting in highly accurate and flat printed layers, without the need for a roller. This makes the printer, after using it for a specific time, far more reliable and allows the printing of razor-sharp gradients between materials.
The journey from concept to breakthrough
Novenda’s story began in 2019, when Klaas Wiertzema, Petra Doelman, and Joost Anne Veerman teamed up to explore a largely overlooked problem: the outdated, manual processes used to produce dental products like nightguards and dentures. Rather than starting with a machine, they began with people, conducting deep-dive consultations with dentists, dental technicians, lab operators, and even patients. Their findings formed the basis of Novenda’s business plan and technology roadmap.
By 2021, they had installed their first prototype printer at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven. The team achieved its first successful multi-material print using proprietary software and materials, a milestone that validated its core hypothesis. Development then shifted into high gear, with the next two years focused on refining the technology to meet industry demands.
In 2023, Novenda reached a significant milestone: a working proof of concept for producing high-quality nightguards and dentures. The platform demonstrated remarkable capabilities, not just in performance but in aesthetic quality, comfort, and durability. The success laid the foundation for commercialisation, now targeted for 2025.
Redefines what a dental printer can do
At the heart of Novenda’s offering is the LD100 printer, a high-speed, high-precision machine that can simultaneously combine hard and soft materials within a single dental product. This means dentists and labs no longer need to glue or manually assemble multiple components, resulting in better-fitting, more comfortable, and natural-looking prostheses.
The printer’s water-soluble supports can be rinsed away with ordinary tap water, eliminating one of the most tedious steps in traditional post-processing. Unlike many competing systems that rely on mechanical rollers for layering, which limits colour options and risks ink contamination, Novenda’s smart print modes enable precise layer control without these limitations.
That engineering breakthrough opens the door to what might be Novenda’s most striking feature: unlimited colour possibilities using just a few base inks. Thanks to a proprietary colour management algorithm, the printer can replicate tooth and gum tones with a realism that early users have called the best in the industry.
Built for the modern dental lab
Speed and scalability are where Novenda truly stands apart. The LD100 can produce up to 15 nightguards or 8 dentures per hour, output levels that make it ideal for mid-size and large dental labs looking to keep up with growing demand. And because the LD100 is built as a full-stack solution, Novenda controls both the hardware and the materials. That not only ensures high quality and biocompatibility but also builds a recurring revenue model into the platform through the exclusive use of materials.
The system’s seamless integration with digital workflows is especially timely. The dental industry is moving rapidly toward digitisation, with scanners and 3D models replacing traditional moulds and impressions. However, the final production stage often still relies on old-school methods that are inefficient and labour-intensive. Novenda bridges that gap, turning digital inputs into high-quality physical outputs with minimal human intervention.
“The production of multi-material and/or full-colour dental products becomes better and more efficient. For example, hard-soft nightguards can be produced in one print run instead of glueing two thermo-formed parts together. Dentures, including the base and teeth, can be printed in full colour without having to glue the base and teeth together. This again provides significant benefits in terms of better fit for dental products, aesthetic results and cost efficiency.”
Competitive landscape: What sets it apart?
As per Wiertzema, “3D systems and Stratasys both launched (or announced) a multi-material jetting printer for dentures.”
3D systems offer only a limited range of colours, making it impossible to print a great variety of dentures (in terms of teeth and gum shades) in one printing run. This is in contrast with the unlimited colour space that Novenda offers. Additionally, they have a cumbersome support removal procedure that requires significant manual post-processing after printing. On the other hand, Stratasys dentures lack the necessary mechanical properties and tend to break easily. Their workflow also involves many manual steps after printing to achieve support removal and the final glossy finish of the products.
Novenda differentiates by minimising manual post-processing steps. The support is water-soluble and can be removed with a simple wash in tap water. The toughness of the nightguard and denture materials is very good, meaning the printed products will not break easily, unlike those from Stratasys. Furthermore, Novenda implemented a ground-breaking colour management algorithm, allowing full colour and translucency control with only a few base colours.
The road ahead
Novenda’s immediate goal is to deploy its LD100 platform across dental labs in Europe and North America. However, the team has its sights set on a broader horizon. In the long term, the company aims to expand into new applications within dentistry and beyond, where individualised mass manufacturing is critical. In the future, Novenda Technologies will expand the print platform to other dental applications and eventually to entirely new markets, such as individualised designed glasses.
With centralised dental manufacturing gaining traction globally and digital workflows becoming the norm, Novenda is perfectly timed to lead a new wave of automation in oral health. More than just a printer company, it is building a robust ecosystem of materials, software, and services that could redefine how dental products are made.
One-time investment, long-term impact
Novenda’s model offers a powerful blend of capital efficiency and high-volume throughput. Labs make a one-time investment in the LD100 printer but remain connected to Novenda through exclusive use of its certified materials. This ensures product safety, regulatory compliance, and repeatable quality—all critical factors in the production of medical-grade products.
With a compelling value proposition, a top-tier investor base, and glowing early feedback from the field, Novenda Technologies is not just upgrading dental workflows—it’s reshaping the expectations of what dental manufacturing can be in the digital age.
Klaas Wiertzema commented: “The combination of water-soluble support and the absence of mechanical interventions to compensate for imprecisions ensures unprecedented long-term accuracy and eliminates the need for extensive post-processing. This is particularly important in a world where dental technicians are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive.”
Olga Goor, Investment Manager at Brightlands Venture Partners, added: “As lead investor, Brightlands Venture Partners is proud to support Novenda Technologies in this next phase of growth. Their multi-material jetting technology is a breakthrough in digital dentistry, enabling scalable, high-precision manufacturing with minimal waste and post-processing. This innovation not only sets a new quality standard for dental products but also enhances the affordability of dental care for patients that are unable to afford alternatives currently available in the market. This will ultimately drive the transformation of the dental industry towards a more sustainable and equitable future.”
“At KBC Focus Fund, we invest in deep-tech companies that push the boundaries of innovation, and Novenda is a prime example of this. Their groundbreaking multi-material jetting technology has the potential to transform the dental industry by enabling the cost-effective, high-quality production of dental products with minimal waste and post-processing requirements. We are excited to support Novenda in this next phase of growth as they bring their pioneering solutions to market and redefine digital dentistry.” added Nuno Carvalho, Investment Director at KBC Focus Fund.
