JOHN RYAN, the US-based Irish executive who founded entertainment technology firm Macrovision, has been appointed chairman of 3D printer company Mcor Technologies.
California-based Mr Ryan retired from Macrovision three years ago and is involved in advising about 10 US-based start-ups. Macrovision is now called Rovi, is valued at $5 billion and employs more than 2,000 staff worldwide.
His appointment to Mcor follows a $1 million investment by the Wilde Angles fund, whose members include Mr Ryan and John Hartnett, president of the Irish Technology Leadership Group.
“I’m extremely impressed with Mcor,” said Mr Ryan, who began his career as an RTÉ cameraman. “It’s fantastic that they have built a product of such complexity in what is effectively a garage in Co Louth.”
Mcor was founded by brothers Conor and Fintan MacCormack and has developed a printer that can produce 3D models using A4 reams of paper.
Mr Ryan says a key differentiator of its printers is that they do not produce a waste product that is dangerous – it’s simply cut-offs of office paper. Competing products use plastics and chemicals.
“Mcor has the ability to sell a lot more printers than they can manufacture,” he said. “We will help them by introducing them to manufacturers, distribution partners and sources of funding in the US.”
