--- title: Dutch 3D Print Start-Up Bets on Automation as Dental Labour Shortage Bites description: Novenda Technologies secures €6.1 million to automate dental manufacturing with 3D printing, tackling skilled workforce shortages in healthcare author: Darie Nani (Editor-in-Chief) date: 2025-07-09T12:07:18.000Z updated: 2026-02-26T18:02:19.116Z canonical: https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/dutch-3d-print-start-up-bets-on-automation-as-dental-labour-shortage-bites image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/UV-curing-experiments-at-Novendas-lab-credits-to-Simon-Van-Boxtel.webp categories: Science & Tech content_type: Spotlight region: Netherlands publication: Sovereign Magazine about: - type: Organization name: Novenda description: "Novenda Technologies (a registered name of Lake3D B.V.) is a dynamic, young company revolutionizing the dental market with its ground-breaking multi-material jetting printer. The company’s LD100 printer seamlessly combines multiple materials, offering full flexibility in mechanical properties and perfect colour control of printed products. To support this innovation, the company has developed a high-end software package that integrates effortlessly into our customers' existing workflows.\n\nInkjet printing is a complex technology, but Novenda’s experts have designed a print process that is both highly accurate and highly productive. The company’s in-house developed printing materials ensure high-quality dental products with excellent mechanical properties and superior aesthetic results. Find out more at www.novenda.com" url: https://www.novenda.com/ --- The dental industry faces a brutal arithmetic problem. Nearly 3.5 billion people worldwide struggle with oral diseases, yet the skilled workforce to manufacture dental products is shrinking rapidly. In the US, staffing shortages have become the primary concern for dental practices in 2024 and 2025, with an 11% reduction in capacity. Europe isn’t faring better – nearly half of small and medium dental labs report shortages of technically trained staff. ![Material testing at Novendas lab credits to Simon Van Boxtel 1 1024x683](https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/Material-testing-at-Novendas-lab-credits-to-Simon-Van-Boxtel-1-1024x683.webp) ![An image of Novendas production printer 1024x576](https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/An-image-of-Novendas-production-printer-1024x576.webp) ![Novenda Team Credits to Simon Van Boxtel 1024x683](https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/Novenda-Team-Credits-to-Simon-Van-Boxtel--1024x683.webp) Into this squeeze steps Novenda Technologies, a Dutch start-up that yesterday announced a €6.1 million Series A funding round to automate dental manufacturing through multi-material 3D printing. The investment, led by [Brightlands Venture Partners](https://brightlandsventurepartners.com/) with participation from KBC Focus Fund, Borski Fund and others, represents more than just another medtech raise. It’s a bet that industrial automation can solve what manual processes cannot: the collision of explosive demand with flat supply. ## The Economics of Scarcity The numbers make uncomfortable reading for dental lab owners. The global dental prosthetics market, valued at $8.91 billion in 2024, is expected to reach $9.59 billion in 2025 – a healthy growth rate that masks underlying production constraints. The dentures segment alone, worth $1.91 billion in 2023, is growing at 4.6% annually. Yet this growth comes as the industry grapples with a fundamental labour crisis. About 96% of dental labs with five or more employees now use 3D printers, according to recent industry surveys, but these still require skilled technicians for post-processing, assembly and quality control. The shortage of these specialists has pushed wages higher and limited labs’ ability to scale production. The problem is particularly acute in countries moving toward [centralised manufacturing models](https://blog.ddslab.com/trends-shaping-the-dental-laboratory-industry-in-2024). Where once dental work was done locally, labs are now consolidating to achieve economies of scale. This puts pressure on the remaining skilled workforce whilst increasing the penalty for production bottlenecks. ## Automating the Entire Stack Novenda’s approach tackles the labour shortage head-on by eliminating manual intervention entirely. The company’s multi-material jetting technology can produce night guards that combine hard protective materials with soft comfort layers in a single print run. [Crucially, the finished products](https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/hummink-s-fountain-pen-technology-tackles-the-16-billion-problem-display-makers-can-see-but-c) require no manual assembly or extensive post-processing – just a simple tap water wash to dissolve support materials. ‘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,’ explains Klaas Wiertzema, CEO and co-founder of Novenda. ‘This is particularly important when dental technicians are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive.’ The throughput figures suggest serious industrial intent. Novenda’s LD100 printer can produce up to 15 night guards and eight dentures per hour – rates that would require multiple skilled technicians using traditional methods. The company’s platform generates recurring revenue through its proprietary materials whilst maintaining what it claims are superior mechanical properties compared to assembled alternatives. The technology addresses a specific pain point in the current [dental 3D printing market](https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/dental-3d-printing-market), which was valued at $3.1 billion in 2023 and is growing at 26.4% annually. Existing systems from established players like Stratasys, 3D Systems and Formlabs still require significant manual post-processing, limiting their appeal to labs facing skilled worker shortages. ## Capital Follows the Constraint The investment thesis behind Novenda’s funding round reflects broader changes in healthcare manufacturing. Olga Goor, Investment Manager at Brightlands Venture Partners, frames the opportunity in terms of systemic change: ‘Their multi-material jetting technology enables scalable, high-precision manufacturing with minimal waste and post-processing. This development not only sets a new quality standard for dental products but also enhances affordability of dental care.’ The investor lineup suggests confidence in the automation approach. Brightlands Venture Partners manages four funds totalling €120 million, focusing on sustainability and health sectors. KBC Focus Fund, based in Brussels, targets advanced technology sectors including IoT and manufacturing digitalisation. Their backing indicates belief that dental manufacturing represents a broader opportunity for [industrial automation in healthcare](https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/ai-agents-take-centre-stage-logicflo-s-2-7m-seed-backs-human-guided-automation-in-pharma). The €6.1 million round positions Novenda to scale beyond its initial proof-of-concept installations. The company has built a 15-person team spanning physics, chemistry, material science and software engineering – disciplines that reflect the complexity of automating what skilled technicians previously did by hand. ## The Automation Imperative Novenda’s funding round arrives as the dental industry confronts a fundamental question: can technology solve what labour markets cannot? The company’s immediate focus on European and US lab deployment suggests confidence that automation can address skilled worker shortages whilst maintaining quality standards. The broader implications extend beyond dentistry. As healthcare costs rise and skilled worker shortages spread across medical device manufacturing, the pressure for [automated solutions](https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/superdial-s-15m-bet-will-voice-ai-finally-cut-us-healthcare-s-phone-bill) will only intensify. Novenda’s bet on full-stack automation may represent an early test case for how capital and technology can reshape healthcare manufacturing economics. The question for investors isn’t just whether Novenda’s specific technology works, but whether it signals a coming pattern across medical devices. If labour shortages and cost pressures continue to mount, full automation may become less an option than an imperative. For an industry built on skilled craftsmanship, that represents a fundamental challenge to traditional business models. If this works, who’s next in medtech manufacturing? **About Novenda** Novenda Technologies (a registered name of Lake3D B.V.) is a dynamic, young company revolutionizing the dental market with its ground-breaking multi-material jetting printer. The company’s LD100 printer seamlessly combines multiple materials, offering full flexibility in mechanical properties and perfect colour control of printed products. To support this innovation, the company has developed a high-end software package that integrates effortlessly into our customers' existing workflows. Inkjet printing is a complex technology, but Novenda’s experts have designed a print process that is both highly accurate and highly productive. The company’s in-house developed printing materials ensure high-quality dental products with excellent mechanical properties and superior aesthetic results. Find out more at www.novenda.com [Website](https://www.novenda.com/)