eNewspapers step nearer with £52m funding for UK technology firm

Widespread use of portable enewspapers has taken a step nearer with the venture funding of UK electronic display technology company Plastic Logic to the tune of £52 million.

Oak Investment Partners and Tudor Investment Corporation have led the round of funding.

Existing investors Amadeus, which led the seed financing of Plastic Logic, Intel Capital, Bank of America, BASF Venture Capital, Quest for Growth and Merifin Capital also participated.

Plastic Logic, which believes the financing is one of the largest in the history of European venture capital, will use the investment to build the first factory to manufacture plastic electronics on a commercial scale.

The facility will make 'take anywhere, read anywhere' electronic reader products on which a new generation of newspaper content could be published.

"Even in this age of pervasive digital content, our research shows that consumers are very reluctant to read on laptops, phones and PDAs," said Simon Jones, vice president of product development at Plastic Logic.

"We still carry around enormous amounts of paper. However, people are making less room in their lives for the weight and bulk of paper and are becoming more sensitive to the environmental impact of printing to read.

"We believe there is a substantial unfulfilled need that Plastic Logic can meet by making digital reading a comfortable and pleasurable experience."

Free daily newsletter

If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).