Jeff Clarke, the CEO of venerable camera-maker Kodak, is in Israel looking to acquire tech startups that can help rebuild his company as a leader in digital printing, Ha’aretz reported Monday.

“One of the reasons I’m in Israel is because I’m looking at the technology here – the technology landscape – and looking for acquisitions,” he says.

“There are 4,800 startups in Israel, second-largest technology environment for technology startups after Silicon Valley. In the printing industry, there’s significant history here, everything from Indigo to Scitex, really very strong, historic positions. So I’m here to look for companies that we can use to make Kodak bigger. I’m meeting with over 10 companies, all of which are very interesting, in areas like 3-D printing, in areas like material science, in inkjet technology, in specialized inks, all of which are critical to the printing industry. We’re also looking at a couple of software companies.”

Clarke also observed that Israel is a critical component to his company’s new direction, as Kodak is “now one of the largest software companies in the printing business, and the software development is being done in Israel.”

[Photo: Kodak’s Channel / YouTube ]