Having succeeded in commercializing electronic circuit board manufacturing technologies using inkjet printing, Elephantech Inc. (hereinafter “Elephantech”) has raised 1.8 billion JPY. The funds were raised from a total of 9 companies comprising of companies Seiko Epson Corporation (hereinafter “Seiko Epson”), Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (hereinafter “Mitsui Chemicals”), SUMITOMO CORPORATION, TAKAHATA PRECISION Co., LTD., JA MITSUI LEASING, LTD., CBC Co.,Ltd., Yui Capital Partners co.,Ltd., MMC Innovation Investment Limited Partnership and O2 Inc. with Seiko Epson Corporation being the lead investor. Of the funds raised, approximately 800 million JPY will be invested in the establishment of a large mass-production and research complex, realizing the world’s first mass-production of inkjet-printed electronic circuit boards.

About Elephantech’s business

At Elephantech, our mission is "Making the world sustainable with new manufacturing technologies“. Since our establishment in 2014, we have been working on the development, practical application and dissemination of inkjet-printed electronic circuit manufacturing technologies which enable drastic reductions in financial cost and environmental impact with regards to electronic circuit manufacturing. We had raised a total of 1 billion JPY prior to this current funding and succeeded in operating a small mass-production line in 2018, allowing us to manufacture and sell as a replacement for our existing flexible PCB and earn high praise from our customers. Halving costs and reducing water usage and waste to less than 10% when compared to conventional manufacturing methods, the fact that not only the cost but also the environmental impact of the entire supply chain can be significantly reduced is highly appreciated.

Our aim for this fundraising

Following this fundraising, we aim to achieve;

1. Operation of large mass-production and research complex
2. Development of applied technologies such as 3D printed circuits

The former will be operated as a full-scale flexible PCB mass-production and research complex based on the technologies cultivated in our small mass-production line. Renting a building from Mitsui Chemicals’ Nagoya Works and investing approximately 800 million JPY including R&D equipment, we plan to start shipping within the year 2020. With a maximum manufacturing capacity of 50,000 square meters per month and an initial capacity of 10,000 square meters per month, this represents a 10x to 50x boost in production volume when compared to the 1000 square meters per month of our current small mass-production line and we expect sales volume to be in the range of 4 billion JPY. As for the operation, the inkjet printing technology is provided by Seiko Epson and the location and mass-production knowhow is provided by Mitsui Chemicals as we aim to overcome the hurdle of mass-production that many startups face by utilizing the strengths of large corporations.

The latter involves application development based on our own technologies, mainly in cooperation with customers. Although we have mass-produced flexible PCBs as an application example for our printing technologies, the scope of application is not limited to just that. Taking 3D printed circuits as an example, we have received requests from several automobile and automobile components makers for the development of components that integrate resin and circuits (In-Mold Printed Circuits) through the combination of our circuit printing technologies and film insert molding technologies, and we are currently proceeding with development in a joint development framework. We expect our large mass-production plant to be also of use as a base for research and development for such applied technologies too. We would like to start shipping three-dimensional circuits as early as 2022 as our first mass-produced product since flexible PCB.

Message from our CEO

“Be it in terms of market, technology or framework, I believe that this alliance shows a possibility for innovation in Japan. Printing technologies and material technologies are areas in which Japan stands tall and there is no doubt the Seiko Epson possess technology that is unmatched in the world in the form of its Micro Piezo inkjet technology. Moreover, the environmentally friendly manufacturing technology market is not only a necessity for the world moving forward but also a market in which Japan should develop a global presence. Regarding such technologies and industries that our country should pursue, I believe that having a framework in which startups such as ourselves can make maximum usage of assets from existing companies in each field to create new industries is a definite possibility for Japan.

I would like to thank everybody who sympathized with our mission and participated in this framework, and we will do our best to bring our original manufacturing technology to be the new world standard and create a sustainable world.”

Third-parties concerned in private placement of new shares

• Seiko Epson Corporation
• Mitsui Chemicals, Inc.
• SUMITOMO CORPORATION
• TAKAHATA PRECISION Co., LTD.
• JA MITSUI LEASING, LTD.
• CBC Co.,Ltd.
• Yui Capital Partners co.,Ltd.
• MMC Innovation Investment Limited Partnership
• O2 Inc.

Overview of Companies

Name	Elephantech Inc.
Establishment	January 2014
Address	4-3-8 Hatchobori, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Capital	JPY 1.281 billion
Main business	Development and servicing of production technologies for printed electronics
No. of employees	26
URL	https://www.elephantech.co.jp/en/