The firm raised the money from a group of angel investors in a recent funding round to develop the inkless mono system.

Inkless believes the market for cartridges is worth $13bn (£9.1bn) and the company's co-founder, chief executive Arnaud van der Veen, thinks this technology will become largely obsolete.

“We created laser technology, called Inkless, out of frustration: cartridges are expensive, keep running out and are bad for the environment – 80% of them end up in landfill.

“Unlike digital cameras, music and TV systems, print technology is one of the last forms of machinery you have to put something into. This has to change.

“And with this €1m we can now make our technology ready for development,” said van der Veen, who launched the company with colleague Venkatesh Chandrasekar three years ago after graduating from Delft University of Technology.

“The money means we can meet the required quality and speed performance requirements, so we can begin with the development of our first product.”

Inkless is due to be piloted in 2018 and be available in the UK and rest of Europe by the end of 2019. Van der Veen said the cost would be slightly more than for conventional monochrome printers.

“The hardware will be more expensive than current hardware but that will be earned back by never having to buy cartridges again.”

The Inkless machine will target packaging and labelling companies and be used to print barcodes, shelf-life data and product codes.

“This is an ideal market because it is dominated by black-and-white printing. Also the growth of online retail means more packages are shipped and all of them need printed text and barcodes,” said van der Veen, who added no ink, cartridges or other consumables are needed to print on packages or labels. There is also no need for special thermal coatings.

“Grocers already have inkless printers for receipts but the paper needs special thermal coatings. Our technology needs no coatings or consumables.”

He added: “Besides the cost savings, the technology also provides strong environmental benefits. Next to that, the printer doesn’t have to be refilled.”

He compared the technology to the transition from analogue to digital cameras where people could suddenly take unlimited photos without replacing films.

After printing for packages and labels, van der Veen said the technology would be accessible for production printers, office printers, consumer printers and receipt printers.

“In all these markets we can offer the same advantages, a cheaper and more sustainable printer without any hassle with ink, cartridges or toners.”

More finance is needed and van der Veen is targeting strategic partners and venture capitalists.