Elephantech Inc. (head office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo, CEO: Shinya Shimizu, hereinafter “Elephantech”) manufactures P-Flex®, a Flex PCB that can be produced with inkjet printing, which significantly reduces environmental burden following our mission of “Making the world sustainable with new manufacturing technologies”. We hereby announce that, as of January 2020, we will be taking in 1 member of staff from Toyota Motor Corporation (hereinafter "Toyota Motor") on a staff loan scheme and will be launching a new business project concerning automotive-grade IMPC™ (component integrating wiring and resin).

Having succeeded in mass-producing with the electronic circuit manufacturing method based on inkjet printing technologies, in 2020 we will start operations at our "Nagoya Production Technology Center", a large mass-production and research complex for P-Flex®, the Flexible PCB manufactured with the same manufacturing method. In addition, we have decided to accept human resources from Toyota Motor while working on the launch of the IMPC™ business which uses this printing technology to realize wire harnesses for automotive applications.

This transfer is based on the “Rental Transfer” framework developed by Loan Deal Co., Ltd. which operates the“LoanDEAL”inter-company rental transfer platform. This is the first time Toyota Motors will loan out staff to a venture company, with Mr. Masaaki Kuwahara, the chief of the Toyota Research Institute – Advanced Development’s Advanced Project Promotion Department, being transferred to Elephantech.

Mr. Shimizu, the CEO and president of Elephantech, made the following comment.

“I am truly grateful that Toyota Motors has chosen our company for their first staff loan project. Being a start-up in the scale-up stage that cooperates with large corporations, it is of immense value for us to be able to solicit for the launch of a new business the help of an individual from a large corporation with profound industry knowledge and a deep understanding of how these companies think. In return, we will do our best to ensure that the experience of starting a business at a start-up is valuable for the individual on loan and that it can be used for the benefit of Toyota Motors once the loan comes to an end."