St-Laurent, Québec-based E2ip Technologies, which develops technologies for smart displays and surfaces, has raised $120 million in Series B financing.
Export Development Canada and McRock Capital co-led the round. It also saw participation from new investor Fonds de Continuité DNA, as well as existing investor Investissement Québec.
E2ip’s smart surface technologies can reduce devices’ carbon footprint as it reuses materials.
As a 30-year-old company, E2ip initially specialized in screen printing and has expanded into new market segments over time, in part through acquisitions. Its present-day focus is on human-machine interfaces, which refers to a user dashboard that connects a person to a machine, system, or device.
E2ip’s smart surface technologies allow functions such as touch controls, lighting, telecommunication, and energy harvesting to be printed, then directly integrated within the structural surface of objects, machines, appliances, and systems that people interact with every day. E2ip’s product portfolio includes moulded parts for curved 3D smart surfaces, and electromechanical systems, among others. Its 5G smart surfaces were developed in collaboration with the federal government scientific laboratory Communications Research Centre Canada.
According to E2ip, the funding will support the expansion of its national and international facilities. This includes the consolidation of its manufacturing facility with its research and development facility in Montréal by the end of 2024, which will become E2ip’s new head office.
E2ip said it will also deploy new production lines in its Canadian facilities for its smart moulded parts, which transform bulky, traditional electronics and control panels into smart, curved surfaces
Eric Saint-Jacques, CEO of E2ip, said its tech reduces the eco-footprint and cost for its customers’ products as it reuses materials, as opposed to adding components, labour, and cost to the exterior of the structure in the final assembly. Overall weight and space are also further reduced, and the design is made more appealing and durable.
According to E2ip, with this latest investment, Investissement Québec more than doubled its position in the company, though the exact size of the firm’s ownership stake is not disclosed. Per Crunchbase data, E2ip previously secured $5 million in debt financing from Investissement Québec in 2020.
McRock also already owned a minority stake in E2ip through the St-Laurent company’s purchase of McRock portfolio company Arizona-based touch screen solutions provider Serious Integrated in 2021.
Featured image courtesy E2ip.