Elephantech

elephantech.co.jp

Elephantech Inc. is a startup based in Tokyo, Japan, and the first mass-producer of inkjet-printed circuit boards. The core technology of Elephantech is the Pure Additive™️ method, a novel and sustainable manufacturing method utilizing metal inkjet printing technology, which is applicable to various types of electronic components and has a huge potential to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide. Elephantech is now focusing on printed circuit boards (PCB) and the PCB industry has a huge impact on the environment. It accounts for 0.1% of global GHG emissions and 10% of the total carbon footprint of Apple’s manufacturing. The Pure Additive™️ method can reduce its carbon footprint by 75% with competitive costs. The conventional method for PCB manufacturing is a complex and wasteful process because it requires an etching process to remove almost all of the copper layer laid in the former processes. Meanwhile, the Pure Additive™️ method simply prints copper ink where only necessary, reducing copper consumption by 70% and water consumption by 95%. Elephantech is mass-producing single-sided flex PCB named P-Flex® and it is already commercially used. Eizo Corporation adopted P-Flex® for the control switches of the FlexScan® EV3895 monitor in 2020, and Fukuda Co., Ltd. uses P-Flex® for its air leak test system for package containers MSQ-2000 series in 2021. Elephantech has raised approximately 70 billion yen, around 50 million USD, including equity and non-equity. As of April 2023, Elephantech is closing its Series D funding to accelerate R&D to cover all types of PCB including double-sided FPC and rigid PCB, and to increase manufacturing capacity to be ready for multi-million scale mass-production for international customers starting in 2023.