About Elephantech

Elephantech Inc. is a startup that has achieved a significant milestone in the field of PCB manufacturing, by becoming the first company in the world to successfully manufacture PCBs using metal inkjet printing.

With the mission of “Making the world sustainable with new manufacturing technologies”, Elephantech provides their innovative inkjet printing solutions to promote their manufacturing method as the new global standard.

Origin of Elephantech

Like An Elephant

The elephant is revered in various asian cultures and religions as a remover of obstacles and a symbol of wealth and commerce — a fitting image for our desire to “continue to create novel technologies by combining our wisdom and overcoming all obstacles.”

Electronics + Fun + Technology

We are Elephantech, but also Ele-Fun-Tech. We aim to be a company where every employee enjoys developing new technologies in the field of electronics, making lasting technological contributions to the future of our world.

A Globally Recognized Symbol

Technology has no borders, and we cannot have our success limited to Japan where we were founded. From the beginning, based on the premise that we will expand our business globally, we have named our company after a well-known animal so that it is easy to remember regardless of language.

Company Overview

Name Elephantech Inc.
Establishment January 2014
Headquarters 4-3-8 Hatchobori, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0032, Japan
Representative Shinya Shimizu, Representative Director & CEO
Capital JPY 100 million
Number of employees 122
Business description Printed Electronics technology development and electronics manufacturing

As of March 1, 2024

History

2014 Jan.

Founded as AgIC Inc.

2015 Jan.

Series AA financing (¥100 million) for basic research on inkjet printing technology for PCB.

2016 Feb.

Series A financing (¥175 million) for lab-scale demonstration.

2017 Sep.

Changed the company name to Elephantech Inc.

Series B financing (¥500 million).

2018 Jan.

Built demonstrative manufacturing line for P-Flex®, inkjet printed flex circuits.

2019 Nov.

Series C financing (¥1,800 million) to set up a mass-production plant of P-Flex®.

2020 Nov.

EIZO Corp. adopted P-Flex® for FlexScan® EV3895.

2021 Jan.

Started the operation of the mass-production plant.

Oct.

P-Flex was certified to UL94 V-0, a U.S. safety standard.

Nov.

Fukuda Corp. adopted P-Flex® for MSQ-2000.

2022 May

Opened Shinkiba R&D Center.

Oct.

Series D financing (¥2.15 billion) to accelerate global expansion.

Team

Board Directors and Auditors

Shinya Shimizu
Representative Director
CEO
Shinya Shimizu
Founded Elephantech Inc. in 2014, formerly known as AgIC Inc. Appointed Representative Director and CEO in 2014.
Prior to founding Elephantech, Shinya joined McKinsey & Company and provided consulting services mainly to manufacturing companies.
He holds a Master of Engineering degree from the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo.
Masaaki Sugimoto
Board Director
Co-Founder
Masaaki Sugimoto
Co-founded Elephantech Inc., formerly known as AgIC Inc. in 2014. Appointed as a Director in 2014.
He holds a Master of Science degree from the Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo.
Tomihisa Kamada
Independent Director
Tomihisa Kamada
Appointed as an Independent Director in 2014.
Founder and CEO of TomyK Ltd.
Co-founder and former CEO of ACCESS Co., Ltd.
Kengo Ueha
Independent Director
Kengo Ueha
Appointed as an Independent Auditor in 2016 and then as an Independent Director in 2019.
Representative Director of Beyond Next Ventures Inc.
Masahiro Sameshima
Independent Director
Masahiro Sameshima
Appointed as an Independent Director in 2022.
General Partner at ANRI
Kazuyuki Takiguchi
Audit & Supervisory Board Member
Kazuyuki Takiguchi
Appointed as an Audit & Supervisory Board Member in March 2024.
Appointed as a Director (Audit and Supervisory Committee Member) of KPP GROUP HOLDINGS CO., LTD. in October 2022.
Appointed as an auditor of KOKUSAI PULP&PAPER CO.,LTD in October 2022.
Hisako Takahashi
Audit & Supervisory Board Member
Hisako Takahashi
Appointed as an Audit & Supervisory Board Member in March 2024.
Joined Mori Hamada & Matsumoto in January 2009.
Joined Mitsubishi Research Institute, Inc. in April 2016. (Current position)
Joined ZeLo, a Foreign Law Joint Enterprise in July 2021. (Current position)
Hideyuki Hashimoto
Audit & Supervisory Board Member
Hideyuki Hashimoto
Appointed as an Audit & Supervisory Board Member in March 2024.
Joined Chuo Aoyama Audit Corporation in October 1991.
Became the Representative Partner (Senior Partner) at Crowe Toyo & Co. in June 2014. (Current position)
Appointed as an Outside Director (Audit and Supervisory Committee Member) at Silver Life Co., Ltd. in October 2019. (Current position)

Executive Officers

Satoshi Konagai
COO
Executive Officer
Head of Sales Department
Satoshi Konagai
Joined Elephantech in 2021 and was appointed as COO and Executive Officer in 2022.
Satoshi started his career in management consulting at EY Strategy and Consulting Co., Ltd. in 2013, where he advised manufacturing companies on operational transformation and management system implementation.
In 2016, he joined Industrial Growth Platform Inc (IGPI), a Japanese management consulting firm, where he provided consulting services mainly to manufacturing companies.
In 2020, he conducted research on growth strategies of Japanese companies as a visiting researcher at Columbia University Business School.
He holds a Master's degree in International and Development Economics from the Graduate School of Arts and Science, Yale University.
Hirata Naohiro
CFO
Executive Officer
Head of Business and Strategy Unit
Keisuke Ito
Joined Elephantech and was appointed CFO and Executive Officer in 2023.
Keisuke started his career in management consulting at McKinsey, where he advised manufacturing companies and investors on implementing strategy and operational transformation, and managing investment portfolios.
In 2019, he was appointed COO of APB Corporation, where he led the business development of the lithium-ion battery business.
He graduated from the University of Tokyo, Faculty of Engineering.
Hirata Naohiro
Executive Officer
Head of Research and Development Department
Hiroaki Nasu
Joined Elephantech in 2022 and was appointed Executive Officer in 2023.
Hiroaki started his career in 2012 at JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation, where he was involved in R&D of functional materials.
In 2017, he joined IGPI and supported companies in operational transformation and strategy development.
In 2021, he joined Microwave Chemical Co., Ltd. where he was involved in overall operations and business development.
He holds a Master’s degree in Molecular Engineering from the Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University.
Hirata Naohiro
Executive Officer
Head of Corporate Department
Keita Sakimura
Joined Elephantech and was appointed Executive Officer in 2023.
Keita started his career at SMBC in 2012, where he was involved in marketing for domestic corporate clients and project finance and credit at SMBC NY branch.
In 2019, he joined IGPI, where he provided consulting services mainly in the areas of strategy implementation, global PMI and turnarounds.
In 2022, he joined USEN-NEXT HOLDINGS as an M&A and business development specialist.
He graduated from Hitotsubashi University with a Bachelor's degree in Economics.
Hirata Naohiro
Executive Officer
Head of Production Department
Plant Manager, AMC Nagoya
Naohiro Hirata
Joined Elephantech in 2020 and was appointed as an Executive Officer in 2023.
Naohiro joined IBIDEN Co., Ltd. in 2005, where he was involved in setting up rigid substrate production lines in Japan and overseas.
In 2013, he joined Goodman Co., Ltd. as a manufacturing technology team leader in the manufacturing department.
In 2019, he joined NGK SPARK PLUG Co., Ltd. where he was engaged in setting up a spark plug production line.
He graduated from Gifu University, Faculty of Engineering.

Hatchobori office

Address: 4-3-8 Hatchobori, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0032, Japan

Open in Google Maps

Access

  • 4 min. from Takaracho Station on the Toei Asakusa Line
  • 6 min. from Hatchobori Station on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line or the JR Keiyo Line
  • 7 min. from Kyobashi Station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line
  • 8 min. from Shintomicho Station on the Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line

Shinkiba R&D center

Address: 1-3-14 Shinkiba, Koto-ku, Tokyo 136-0082, Japan

Open in Google Maps

URL:https://www.elephantech.co.jp/press/en/press_release_20220530/

Access

  • 6 min. from Shinkiba Station on the Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line, the JR Keiyo Line or the Rinkai Line

AMC Nagoya

Address: c/o Mitsui Chemicals Inc. Nagoya Works, 2-1 Tango-dori, Minami-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi 457-0801, Japan

Open in Google Maps

URL:https://info.elephantech.co.jp/en/amc_nagoya

Access

  • 10 min by cab. from the JR Kasadera Station

List of bases

Head office 4-3-8 Hatchobori, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0032, Japan (Google Map)
Shinkiba R&D Center 1-3-14 Shinkiba, Koto-ku, Tokyo 136-0082, Japan (Google Map)
AMC Nagoya c/o Mitsui Chemicals Inc. Nagoya Works, 2-1 Tango-dori, Minami-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi 457-0801, Japan (Google Map)

Press Release

2018

Historical Products

We used to offer various products and services with another ink until July 2017. Here is a collection of these discontinued products and services.

These products below are unavailable.

Technical support of these products will also end at the end of 2017. Meanwhile, please contact us atContact.

Printer & Marker

Elephantech started with a printer which prints silver ink on paper. Then the same technology was applied to a marker that you can draw circuits on paper with.

Kits

Printing and drawing circuits are great, but you need various components at the end. Our next challenge was to build the environment, so we designed some kits.

Manufacturing Service

It was a big decision to focus on the industrial services. Improving the quality to spread our circuit printing technology requires customized facilities, which led us to build our own factory and offer a PCB manufacturing service.