3M, a US-listed industrial conglomerate, has invested an undisclosed amount in Germany-based electronic reading technology company Txtr.
3M New Ventures, the company’s corporate venturing unit, and 3M Electro & Communications Business provided the money that will help Txtr provide access to documents and books wherever they are.
Stefan Gabriel, president of 3M New Ventures, said: "This strategic investment will bring innovative new-to-3M technology and business opportunities that will create high growth potential for a variety of 3M divisions."
Christophe Maire, chief executive of Txtr, added: "The eReading market, digital books, will be much bigger than currently envisioned by many people. The expectation is that by 2014, 5% of the $90bn publishing market will be digital. Txtr expects this to be closer to 30%.
"We provide a white label solution to 3M, which will allow them to open up new vertical markets."
Txtr provides mobile reading applications for the iPhone and Android for eBook retailers and wholesalers Koch Neff & Volckmar, bol.com, SKK and others after launching in 2008 by Maire and Andreas Steinhauser, who formerly successfully built gate5, which was sold in 2006 to Nokia.