Mullingar’s Swaay raises €2m for scaling drinks cans printing tech

Mullingar-based Irish startup Swaay Technologies has secured €2 million in equity funding to advance its distributed manufacturing and printed-can platform for beverage brands. The investment round, led by venture capital firm BVP with participation from BVP Investor Club members, aims to scale Swaay's direct-to-shape (DTS) printing technology. This innovative technology allows artwork to be printed directly onto drinks cans, eliminating the need for plastic labels and shrink sleeves.

Swaay, founded in 2021 and headquartered in Mullingar, County Westmeath, also maintains a production and technical hub in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada. The company's combined decades of experience in technology, beverage, and print industries among its CEO Ciarán Gorman, COO Sébastien Baril, CCO Mark O’Donnell, and CTO Jean-François Gaudreault positions them well in the market.

DTS printing technology offers several advantages, such as reducing the use of plastic labels and shrink sleeves, providing greater flexibility for brands, facilitating easier recycling, and shortening lead times. This approach helps beverage producers avoid the complexities associated with fragmented labelling rules, national deposit return schemes, and the demand for tailored messaging, which collectively result in billions of plastic shrink sleeves and labels being used globally.

According to Swaay, 1 billion cans per year have already transitioned to non-plastic labelling alternatives, and the company anticipates that "billions more will follow as DTS technology addresses the remaining gaps concerning cost, geographic availability, and quality."

CEO Ciarán Gorman, who previously co-founded the Bevcraft Group, envisions Swaay growing into a global technology-driven company from Ireland. The €2 million funding round, led by BVP, highlights the significant opportunity for Swaay to establish itself as a leader in the direct-to-shape printing sector and contribute to the industry's sustainable growth.