The privately funded Coventry-based digital print firm, which develops photonic platform technology for inkless printing and patterning applications, was invited to showcase its technology at the event at 10 Downing Street last Thursday (31 July).
The event, which featured talks from Prime Minister David Cameron and minister for culture and digital economy Ed Vaizey, was held to highlight the impact and success emerging from the digital sector in the UK and to showcase the strength of Digital Britain.
It was also attended by 70 investors, financiers and corporate partners including major print buyers Unilever, Tesco, Pearson, Diageo, WPP Group and Marks & Spencer.
“It's very significant that we got picked as one of the 10 leading digital businesses in the UK. The UK is a very pioneering place in digital print with success stories such as Xaar, Domino and Inca,” said LumeJet chief executive Paul Anson.
“But print doesn’t get the attention it deserves and that success is not in sight of people outside the industry who are looking more at technologies such as biotech, medtech, clean tech and ICT. It warrants the attention of government and investment and needs support like any other digital sector.
“So I made a point of not just talking about LumeJet, but also talking about what a fantastic growth industry digital print is and how the UK has made a massive impact on a global scale.”
LumeJet was one of only two hardware producers, and the only print firm, to make it onto the Pitch 10 list out of the nominated shortlist of over 500 digital companies.
“I took a LumeJet sample book along to demonstrate our print quality to people in the room and they were wowed by it. Many of them had no idea that the UK is so influential on the global digital print market,” said Anson.
“Being chosen has raised awareness of LumeJet and is very helpful in terms of demonstrating credibility to investors. It also shows existing and potential customers that they are engaging with something that has built up a substantial head of steam.”
Minister for culture and digital economy Ed Vaizey said: “Pitch 10 was a great opportunity to meet and hear from some of the exciting and innovative technology companies growing their businesses here in the UK.
“It was also a great platform for those companies, such as LumeJet and its innovative approach to printing with light, to pitch their ideas to leaders of industry who can offer them the funding to grow further.”
The other companies on the Pitch 10 list were Certivox, Digital Shadows, DueDil, Huddle, KyKloud, Mimecast, ROLI, Swiftkey and Transferwise.
