Javier Shocron
When I was first asked to write about any startup I have in mind, my first thought was to go for the excitement and write about the most exciting company I met during 2019. But instead of telling you about Tevel - drones that autonomously harvest your fruits, Binah. ai - an app that allows you to take medical measurements from the front camera of your smartphone, Utilis - a company that detects water leaks through analyzing satellite images or the ability to transform any 2D into a 3D model (and not – that’s not from the entire Israeli start-up ecosystem, but only from our humbled portfolio), I’ve chose to tell you about an enabling technology and a company called PrintCB, which initially may seem more traditional but once you understand the potential.
PrintCB developed a copper-ink (CopPair) for the Printed Electronics industry, one of the fastest-growing trends in electronics manufacturing today, enabling printing of devices on various substrates and structures. Copper is a key material in the electrical and electronics industry, it is highly conductive, as well as low cost. Printing of copper has been this industry’s dream for many years. However, physical barriers prevented the effective printing of copper mainly due to oxidation considerations.
To date, most platforms printing electronics use silver-inks which are highly conductive but expensive. This is why the development of copper ink is so important. PrintCB’s technology is so disruptive because it maintains conductivity levels similar to silver inks while cutting the costs by 50% off (and counting, since while the copper price stays the same, silver volatility is becoming higher and higher – rising by 20% over the last 6 months). Moreover, thanks to the unique chemistry developed by the company, copper inks can now be handled using standard screen printing and hot-air drying while avoiding oxidation – copper’s greatest threat. The fact that new enabling material can be fully implemented in existing production lines makes it a very strong offer for manufacturers seeking innovation.
To date, most platforms printing electronics use silver-inks which are highly conductive but expensive. This is why the development of copper ink is so important
Now, remember we are talking about enabling technology – which means that a great technology (and a product as well in that case) is not enough – you need some triumphing use cases. RFID and sensors were the first focus of PrintCB however after a short period of time, several conferences and exhibitions, few customer’s and distributor’s feedback and a pinch of ego absence – they realized that prices and their features are not the exact market-fit and barriers for preventing this field from exploding (I personally believe it’s in its unrealized peak). Knowing to move next and fast is very important for startups, without leaving behind any failure or wounds. And that’s the most excited part – while trying to look for a market-fit, PrintCB marked themselves 3 main verticals to focus on for 2020:
1. Wearables – it is all about flexibility and price. As prices of wearable devices are becoming lower and the possibilities of implementations are enormous, no wonder that everyone is talking these days about the smart shirt, or conducting sweater.
2. Photovoltaics – PV is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, which means that implementing solar and green energy will be soon cheaper than ever. PrintCB’s ink can enable the next generation of PVs, organic PVs (OPVs) which are flexible, cheaper and can be applied indoors.
3. Automotive (the Icing on the cake) – improving performance, conduction scatter and reducing prices through interior printing (not sure if we dare to say it loud but aviation, is included here at the same time).
Flexibility is a main feature for the first 2 bullets, hence PrintCB is now working to launch a much flexible and stretchable ink. The automotive industry will be the company’s main focus on 2020 - while focusing on electric cars and interior printing (instead of wiring, known also as harness) - that should be a game-changer and an enabler in that industry that may:
- Enable new features and improve performance (by reducing weight and volume of physical wires).
- Significantly reducing costs (as silver price keep raising - around 20% over the last 6 months)
And the results weren’t late to arrive, as some of major leaders in those areas already reached PrintCB in order to run some tests on their product and further explore this old-new technology that now, while adding also the tune, sounds much more dulcet.
So, what do we learned. Not everything appears to be ‘existing’ at first glance. There are people that are still trying to break conventions and deal with traditional problems and industries. You may find the solution, but in order fast-changing reality, that’s not enough. You need the whole story-telling to make sense here – and that’s why this last mile may transform PrintCB to our most successful and the biggest surprise of 2020! And this article can’t be done without mentioning the people behind it, led by Sagi Daren, co-founder a CEO of PrintCB and YifthahKarni the CTO – that never stop believing and dreaming.
