On September 10, E Ink, the global pioneer and leading player in ePaper technology, announced that it has completed a significant early-stage investment in NewCopper, a privately held U.S. technology startup. NewCopper specializes in the development of conductive copper inks. The investment opens up opportunities for technical collaboration between the two companies in display materials and printed electronics, while also helping to build a more localized and more resilient supply chain.

As flexible electronics continue to expand into displays, sensors, photovoltaics, radio-frequency identification (RFID) and smart connected devices, manufacturers are looking for alternatives to costly silver inks, which are widely used to form conductive traces inside printed components. Copper offers excellent conductivity and lower raw-material cost, but it oxidizes easily, a drawback that has long prevented its large-scale commercialization. NewCopper has developed a proprietary low-temperature, reaction-type self-passivating copper ink formulation that overcomes the industry's copper oxidation challenge.

E Ink Brings Display Manufacturing Expertise to Help NewCopper Scale Up

AI data centers, electric vehicles and the global electrification wave are expected to drive a sharp rise in global copper demand. Meeting that demand simply by expanding mining is not an ideal path, nor does it align with the long-term sustainability principles of efficient resource use and industrial circularity. If technology can enable efficient recovery and reuse of copper and return it to the manufacturing cycle, dependence on virgin minerals can be reduced and the continued expansion of critical industries supported.

NewCopper's technology stems from breakthrough research conducted jointly by the team of Shenqiang Ren at the University of Maryland and Professor Liangbing Hu at Yale University. The company holds an exclusive license from the University of Maryland for the copper ink formulation.

E Ink will make the investment through a post-money Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE), contributing its display manufacturing expertise to support NewCopper's capacity expansion and commercialization. NewCopper's ink formulation is compatible with E Ink's roll-to-roll coating process. E Ink's R&D team will also evaluate the copper ink as a candidate conductive material for future display and electrode applications. More broadly, the collaboration strengthens the localized supply chain for advanced electronic materials and supports the future production of ePaper components.

E Ink's management recently took part in the business development of Taiflex, a leading FCCL (flexible copper-clad laminate) supplier that is expanding into high-frequency copper-clad laminate (CCL) products for AI and data center PCBs. As E Ink deepens its involvement in the high-end PCB materials ecosystem, NewCopper aligns closely with its strategy: combining next-generation technology investment with long-term goals for low-environmental-impact manufacturing, resource efficiency and circular supply chains.

Johnson Lee, Chairman and CEO of E Ink, said: “E Ink itself grew from an academic research spin-off into a global technology company, so we both recognize the enormous potential of NewCopper's innovative technology and understand the many challenges of taking a laboratory technology to market. As a mature leader in materials and display manufacturing, it is our responsibility to help promising startups achieve scale. By empowering NewCopper with capital, technical depth and commercialization experience, we will also help move the entire display industry to new heights.”

As part of the strategic partnership, Johnson Lee will join NewCopper's board of directors on behalf of E Ink.