News Category: News

Accomplished CEO and Fortune 500 Executive, Michael J. Loparco, joins the E2IP Board of Directors

MONTREAL, Jan. 30, 2024 – E2IP today announced the appointment of Michael J. Loparco as an independent member of its Board of Directors. Mr Loparco will also serve on the Board’s Talent and Culture Committee. “Michael brings significant industry experience and strategic guidance to the Board of Directors,” said Scott MacDonald, Co-founder and Managing Partner at McRock Capital and E2IP Board Chair. “As E2IP accelerates its growth globally and prepares for an IPO in the coming years, Michael’s expertise and experience will be an invaluable asset to the company,” said MacDonald.

Mr. Loparco most recently served as Chief Executive Officer at Symbiotic, an AI-enabled and software-driven warehouse automation technology company, which he successfully shepherded through its public offering (NASDAQ: SYM ~$20B market cap) before taking an exit from the founder-led company and moving into an Executive Advisor role.

Prior to joining Symbiotic, Mr. Loparco held global executive positions at Jabil (NYSE: JBL), a Fortune 125 company, where he served for 23 years in senior leadership positions helping grow the company from ~$1B revenue to more than $30B globally. In his most recent role at Jabil, Mr. Loparco was CEO of Jabil EMS (Electronics Manufacturing Services) & EVP, responsible for $22B of Operations in more than 25 countries producing Automotive/EV, Medical, Aerospace & Defense, Cloud, Telecom, Robotics, Industrial, Energy, and Consumer high-tech products. Additionally, he had Executive ownership for Jabil’s worldwide enterprise IT, Global Procurement, Supply Chain Strategies, and Strategic Investments covering more than 50 sites and 80,000 people around the world.

“Having successfully ramped countless high-tech businesses around the globe, I’m extremely excited to work with E2IP, both a pioneer and established leader in the HMI technology space, that I’ve known for years,” said Mr. Loparco. “E2IP’s more than 20-year history serving the world’s best brands across Medical, Aerospace, Industrial and Automotive make it uniquely positioned now for the explosive growth ahead, as smart surface technologies end markets converge. It’s an honor to work alongside the talented E2IP team during this amazing inflection point in its evolution,” he added.

“Michael’s value has already been felt across the company and most importantly with our customers. Michael is hands on, working directly with customers and our team on our most strategic initiatives and partnerships, pushing us all to exceed what he knows to be the expectations of the Global 500 customers who depend on E2IP” said Eric Saint-Jacques, E2IP CEO.

Mr. Loparco is also a licensed attorney, where prior to joining Jabil he practiced Business Law and Corporate & Commercial Litigation at the international law firm of Holland & Knight LLP. Mr Loparco has worked on public company and private company boards, in both for-profit and not-for-profit environments.

 

The companies create the In-Mold-Electronics (IME) Alliance to offer a global and highly scalable manufacturing capacity for this innovative technology, driving Innovation in the Automotive Industry and reducing electronics eco footprint of custom HMI solutions

MONTREAL, Canada, BURGOS, Spain and BILBAO, Spain, Dec. 18, 2023 – Antolin, (Burgos, Spain), a tier 1 supplier of technology solutions for automotive interiors; WalterPack, (Bilbao, Spain), an Antolin partner and global In-Mold-Decoration (IMD) leader; and e₂ip technologies (Montreal, Canada), In-Mold-Electronics technology innovator and Human Machine Interface partner to the world’s largest medical, aerospace, industrial, transportation and appliance OEMs, have today announced the establishment of the In-Mold-Electronics (IME) Alliance, a global initiative focused on IME technology and manufacturing.

In-Mold Electronics (IME) is a manufacturing process that integrates printed and component electronics directly into the structural surface of the product during the automated molding phase, enabling seamless integration of functionality and design. Another benefit of this technology is its sustainability: using the product’s existing structure and material (e.g., a door panel) to incorporate functional electronics within the structural surface reduces the eco-footprint of the component.

Through this alliance, e₂ip, Antolin and WalterPack become the first fully integrated IME solution providers for the automotive industry with control of all elements of this technology from intellectual property to integrated manufacturing (printing, high pressure forming, injection molding), lighting and advanced electronics. Antolin and WalterPack are leveraging decades of global high-volume partnerships with the automotive industry’s largest OEMs to industrialize and directly deliver IME technology, that Antolin now fully controls through the new alliance.

Antolin has selected e₂ip’s foundational Smart Structural Surfaces^TM IME technology and patent portfolio as its primary platform to deliver In-Mold-Electronics smart parts to the automotive industry. e₂ip has also designated Antolin as its primary partner for the automotive industry. The companies will offer a global manufacturing network to make IME available globally from ideation to fabrication within a single integrated industrial infrastructure. WalterPack produces in Spain and Mexico, while e₂ip has facilities in Morocco and Canada, and Antolin boasts a worldwide manufacturing network with 130 plants across 25 countries.

“As a Tier-1 partner to the automotive industry, Antolin will fully leverage the alliance with WalterPack and e₂ip to deliver directly to OEMs transformative smart surfaces with IME solutions, lighting and other functions that will seamlessly integrate into the most advanced trims”, said Javier Villacampa, Group VP, Innovation and Sustainability at Antolin. “The world’s leading automotive OEMs have been working with Antolin for decades and they trust us to deliver cutting-edge and cost-efficient components on the market. Our customers can now work with a single integrated source for IME, from design to manufacturing”, said Villacampa.

“WalterPack has chosen e₂ip’s technology and partner eco-system as we believe this company is uniquely positioned to lead the transition to lower eco footprint, more reliable, user-friendly more affordable control interfaces we will all use in our everyday lives. WalterPack’s decades of experience in surface forming and structural injection coupled with e₂ip’s printed electronics, lighting, engineering, and design experience provides a fully integrated highly scalable manufacturing and technology infrastructure to meet global market demand for IME Smart Structural Surfaces^TM and IME smart parts. With this alliance, WalterPack will be able to keep on independently offering to its customers leading innovative technology “, said Miguel Bernar Borda, Founder and President of WalterPack.

The IME manufacturing methodology has been taught in universities for years and is the focus of global patents going back decades. e₂ip’s foundational IME patents date back to 2008. “Following years of additional research performed by e₂ip technologies and the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), it is now time to move into the mainstream of the finest automotive products through this unique Alliance between Antolin and the IME foundational patent team, the NRC and e₂ip technologies”, said Eric Saint-Jacques, CEO of e₂ip technologies.

“Antolin and WalterPack are leading the way towards a safe, trustworthy, and reliable ecosystem of partners to deliver the IME Smart Structural Surfaces^TM of the future directly to automotive OEMs”, added Saint-Jacques.

In cooperation with its OEM customers, Antolin and WalterPack also aim to integrate other IME technologies and partners to broaden its solutions portfolio. Additionally, e₂ip technologies is also actively working on a global automotive licensing model, that greatly reduces IME economic barriers and facilitate the adoption of this technology by other Tier 1 Automotive providers. Antolin, WalterPack, and e₂ip are dedicated to this strategy because they consider it to be the most effective for automakers, who serve as the industry’s anchor tenants and require diverse Tier-1 manufacturing partners and technology providers.

About e₂ip technologies
Our vision is to reduce the eco-footprint of the global electronics industry through the integration of functional electronics directly within the existing structural surfaces of our everyday lives. From ideation to fabrication, we rethink the boundaries between technology, design and automated manufacturing to deliver innovative Human Machine Interface (HMI), Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Smart Structural Surfaces^TM technologies, products and solutions to market leaders in the medical, aerospace, industrial, transportation and appliance sectors.

About Antolin
Antolin is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of vehicle components and a global supplier of technological solutions for automotive interiors. The company supplies the world’s leading car manufacturers through 130 factories in 25 countries. Antolin has 24,000 employees and sales of €4,451 million in 2022. Antolin offers high added value products via five Business Units: Overheads; Doors & Hard Trim; IPs & Central Consoles; Lighting, HMI & Electronics and Components & JITs.

About WalterPack
Walter Pack is a leader in the design and development of functional decorative plastic parts with high added value, which, thanks to the work of the Color&Trim and R&D departments, has made it an international reference in advanced IMD, IML and IME technologies, and especially in IMF, the company’s true core business at international level. Walter Pack’s participation in NER Group is another of the Spanish company’s hallmarks, synthesizing its commitment to talent, teamwork, and social development.

Contact Information:

Antolin:	Alberto Marimon Abad, alberto.marimon@antolin.com
e2ip:	Anna-Marie Marasliyan, VP Technology, Products & Marketing, am.marasliyan@e2ip.com
WalterPack:	Eider Lazkano, Marketing & Com Manager, elazkano@walterpack.com

E2IP TECHNOLOGIES’s successful registration as a supplier with JOSCAR marks a significant milestone as they join the ranks of prime contractors in the aerospace, defense, and security industries. JOSCAR, the Joint Supply Chain Accreditation Register, serves as a collaborative platform facilitating streamlined communication and accreditation processes among organizations in this sector. This achievement implies that E2IP TECHNOLOGIES has met the stringent standards and requirements set by JOSCAR, demonstrating compliance with key criteria such as financial stability, quality management systems, and cybersecurity measures. Being a registered supplier on JOSCAR not only signifies E2IP TECHNOLOGIES’s commitment to industry best practices but also enhances its visibility and credibility within the aerospace and defense supply chain. This accreditation positions E2IP TECHNOLOGIES as a trusted partner, fostering efficient collaboration and demonstrating its readiness to contribute to the rigorous standards upheld by JOSCAR in this highly regulated and critical sector.

 

Through the acquisition of True North Printed Plastics Inc., E2IP TECHNOLOGIES is ensuring scalable support for the rapidly growing demand of our Smart Structural Surfaces^TM and In-Mold-Electronics (IME) technologies. The print-form-inject production lines now provide for fully integrated design prototyping and production of In-Mold-Electronics and Smart Structural Surfaces^TM products within a single dedicated facility. We welcome the True North team to e₂ip and look forward to this significant step in the evolution of IME adoption globally.

In response to the devastating Alhaouz Earthquake, our Casablanca manufacturing plant leaders engaged with “Operation Atlas Night Sun.” This dedicated team of volunteers launched a mission to bring light and communications to those in remote areas affected by the tragedy.

Over a few short weeks, they deployed approximately 1000 solar light projectors, and high-power battery torches to illuminate over 6000 villages, totaling 24,000 solar projectors. Companies and individuals responded with their hearts by contributing raw materials, expertise, and hard work under the slogan “Together, we can bring light to those in need”.

e₂ip technologies is immensely proud of its employees for this selfless initiative, showcasing the profound impact we can make when united in the spirit of compassion and community.

HMI-IIoT solutions provider to the world’s market leaders to fuel international growth and productization of its Smart Structural Surface^TM  IP portfolio 

April 26, 2023 – Montreal, Canada – e₂ip technologies, a global printed electronics and embedded system technologies innovation leader of the Human Machine Interface (HMI) and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) sectors, announced today the completion of its oversubscribed global growth funding round. The Series B financing is co-led by Export Development Canada (EDC) and McRock Capital with existing investor Investissement Québec, who more than doubles its position, and new investor DNA Fund. The round is also supported by National Bank of Canada (BNC). Founding investors W and Namakor remain.

The investment provides e₂ip technologies with growth capital to productize decades of HMI and IIoT technology leadership from its high-performance engineered solutions business and to grow global revenue through the digital deployment of its productized and ready-to-use printed electronics, embedded systems, touchscreen and In-Mold-Electronics (IME) platforms.

“e₂ip’s technology is revolutionizing the HMI and IIoT industry. Backed by world-class proprietary and patented technology, they are supporting their customers from ideation to fabrication,” said Guillermo Freire, Senior Vice-President, Mid-Market Group at EDC. “Working with like-minded investors, EDC is thrilled to have played a meaningful role in this round of funding. As a strategic investor, EDC can support e₂ip by leveraging our financial solutions, trade knowledge and international networks, providing the company with even more momentum to expand into new markets and become a more dominant international market leader.”

The round will enable e₂ip to immediately expand its embedded systems capabilities in its existing high-volume facility in Casablanca, Morocco. Canadian facilities will additionally be consolidated into a new integrated Manufacturing-R&D facility in Montreal by the end of 2024, which will house e₂ip’s new head office.

The company will also immediately begin the deployment of the new production lines in its Canadian facilities to provide global market leaders with a high volume, fully scalable In-Mold-Electronics Manufacturing Service (IM-EMS). Leveraging e₂ip’s global portfolio of patents, these facilities will be the first fully integrated center of excellence, from material and process innovation to product ideation, industrial design, engineering and through to high-volume fabrication.

“e₂ip’s Smart Structural Surface^TM technologies enable functions such as touch controls, lighting, telecommunication and energy harvesting to be printed using additive manufacturing processes, and then directly integrated within the structural surface material of the objects, machines, appliances, and systems we all interact with in our everyday lives,” said Eric Saint-Jacques, CEO of e₂ip technologies. “This significantly reduces the eco-footprint and cost of our customers’ products as the structural material is reused to integrate functions within the material, during the automated surface manufacturing process, versus adding components, labour and cost to the exterior of the structure during the final assembly. Overall weight and space are further reduced, and the overall design is made more appealing, usable and durable, creating greater differentiation for our market leading customers.”

e₂ip is part of the advanced materials research and innovation center PRIMA Québec and the National Research Council of Canada, where, in partnership with different universities, it invests in fundamental research and applied science. The company’s R&D teams have developed market disruptive innovations through these collaborations, which have added further depth to the company’s broad patent portfolio of Smart Structural Surface^TM technologies.

“Technology is a flagship sector for our economy, and Investissement Québec is strongly committed to supporting companies such as e₂ip, proven leaders who put innovation at the forefront of their business strategy. We are proud to renew our partnership with e₂ip and to help them grow and develop new international markets” said Guy LeBlanc, President and CEO of Investissement Québec.

DNA Fund, a Quebec-based private Equity fund, joins the e₂ip investor eco-system with this round. “We are proud to support a great Québec-based company that has a long history of operational excellence in its transition towards a product-based business model and a global technology leadership,” said Stéphane Léveillé, CEO and co-Founder of DNA Fund.

About e₂ip technologies

e₂ip develops new technologies and products that transform how people interact with the physical world through innovations in printed electronics, material science, advanced manufacturing processes and embedded system-touchscreen development. From ideation to fabrication, we rethink the boundaries between technology and design to deliver innovative Human Machine Interface (HMI), Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Smart Structural Surface^TM technologies, products and solutions to global market leaders in the aerospace, medical, industrial, transportation and appliance sectors.

For more information:
Annie Couture, e₂ip Technologies
Director, Strategy Execution
a.couture@e₂ip.com
514-575-7426

For interview requests:
Mylène Demers
mdemers@casacom.ca
514-261-5840

We are thrilled to announce the promotion of Mario Menard to Chief Financial Officer!

Mario Menard joined the team in 2017 and has been a pillar of our foundation since he joined. The company has benefited from his deep skills in financial and operational management gained from years of experience within the most challenging manufacturing and finance environments at Nortel, Flextronics and Cogeco as a key finance leader within those executive teams.

In his four years at e₂ip as VP Finance, Mario has successfully restructured the Finance, Accounting and IT teams to create a solid foundation that supports our growth moving forward. He has now become a driving force in the development of our corporate strategy and will play a leadership role in its execution as we exit 2021 into strong growth years in 2022 and beyond.

We feel privileged to be working with Mario and look forward to our continued collaboration!

Acquisition expands e₂ip technologies’ growing portfolio of HMI Smart Surface solutions

Montreal, Canada, February 2^nd, 2021 – e₂ip technologies (e₂ip), a Human-Machine Interface (HMI) and Smart Surface solutions innovation leader, today announced its acquisition of Serious Integrated Inc. (Serious), a leading provider of industrial, medical, and commercial touch screen HMI-IoT solutions.

e₂ip and Serious have been working together for over a year as strategic partners to create and deliver innovative solutions to global market leaders. This acquisition will enable e₂ip to invest in and support the scalable growth of Serious Integrated technologies and solutions.

“e₂ip has a broad portfolio of Smart Surface and HMI technologies and solutions”, said Eric Saint-Jacques, CEO of e₂ip. “Our medical, industrial, aerospace and transportation industry customers are global leaders in their markets and are constantly seeking optimal HMI solutions and breakthrough innovations. The addition of the Serious team, technology portfolio and solutions in the embedded systems, LCD, touch screen applications and hardware integration fields will create greater value for our customers by expanding the breadth of our capabilities.”

Increasing global competition and demand for leading-edge products create a greater need for companies to find innovative differentiation in their products. Touch screens are a key HMI technology bridging the gap between functionality and user experience. Widely integrated into consumer electronics, they are now being broadly adopted to improve visualization, increase worker productivity and make operations more efficient by providing a simpler and more efficient interactive experience with business devices and equipment.

“We’re thrilled to become part of e₂ip”, said Terry West, Founder and CEO of Serious. “e₂ip’s cost-effective, global and high-quality manufacturing footprint combined with their top-tier multinational customer relationships bring the Serious portfolio onto the world stage with immense possibilities for integrated Smart Surfaces. Serious was founded with the goal of delivering innovative HMI and IIoT experiences and the combined forces of e₂ip and Serious promise to deliver truly breakthrough value for customers.”

About e₂ip technologies

From ideation to fabrication, we rethink the boundaries between technology and design to deliver innovative Human-Machine Interface (HMI) and Smart Surface solutions to global market leaders. We create new possibilities through innovations in printed electronics, material science, advanced manufacturing processes and embedded system development to transform the surfaces we touch in our everyday lives and simplify how we all interact with our physical environment.

About Serious Integrated, Inc.  Serious Integrated, Inc. is an Arizona, USA based venture-backed company founded in 2008.  Serious delivers innovated graphic/touch screen Human-Machine Interface (HMI) solutions to medical, industrial, and commercial OEMs enabling them to get to market quickly with highly cost-effective solutions. Experts in embedded software, LCD design, hardware design and productization, Serious products and technologies span from low-cost embedded technologies with the Serious Human Interface™ Platform, all the way to high performance, full-featured Linux-based solutions.

 

Contact Information :
Annie Couture
Manager, Corporate Communications and Executive projects
(514) 575-7426
a.couture@e2ip.com

Facilitating cost-effective 5G deployment

Montreal, Québec, December 15, 2020 – e₂ip technologies today announced that it has been named as CES® 2021 Innovation Awards Honoree for its Engineered Electromagnetic Surfaces (EES) technology in the Smart Cities category. The announcement was made ahead of the first-ever, all-digital CES 2021, the world’s most influential technology event, happening Jan. 11-14, 2021.

The CES Innovation Awards program, owned and produced by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)®, is an annual competition honoring outstanding design and engineering in consumer technology products across 28 product categories. An elite panel of industry expert judges, including members of the media, designers, engineers, and more, reviewed submissions based on innovation, engineering and functionality, aesthetics, and design.

e₂ip Engineered Electromagnetic Surfaces (EES), developed in conjunction with the Communications Research Centre of Canada, are thin, semi-transparent plastic sheets that reflect, redirect, or block specific radiofrequency waves. These low-cost flexible sheets can be deployed on outdoor or indoor structural surfaces (buildings, signage, interior walls…) to augment, direct, or inhibit specific telecommunication services (5G, Wi-Fi…).

In the case of 5G networks, e₂ip EES sheets reduce deployment costs and facilitate network deployment by reducing the number of antennas required to ensure omnidirectional 5G access to mobile users and fixed location access points. e₂ip EES printed sheets do not require power and reduce the need for additional small cell antennas – traits highly needed in a 5G NR environment. EES provide an economical opportunity to better manage infrastructure for telecom operators, heads of Smart Cities, and managers of large venues.

EES surface designs are tailored to each network’s specific needs and depending on the design of the surface, EES can act as a band-stop, band-pass structure, reflect signals at varying angles, or act as a diffusing or as a focusing instrument. These properties of EES can then be used to enhance the propagation of mm-Wave signals and help improve the overall reliability of the underlying infrastructure.

“Innovations in engineered surfaces will support the growing demand expected with the introduction of 5G communications and IoT. e₂ip is poised to become a dominant market contributor, helping building owners, smart city and infrastructure providers manage their growth while balancing their investments,” says Anna-Marie Marasliyan, Vice-President Technology, Products, and Marketing.

“Our DNA in chemistry and printing functional electronics are at the heart of the EES innovation, enabling us to embed printed electronics in structural surfaces that enhance 5G network performance and reduce network deployment costs,” said Eric Saint-Jacques, e₂ip CEO, “EES is another example of our close collaboration with the Government of Canada research teams to create transformative value for our ecosystem of market-leading customers and partners”.

The CES 2021 Innovation Awards Honorees, including product descriptions and photos, can be found at CES.tech/innovation. Additional honorees will be revealed during CES 2021 on Jan. 11, 2021.

About E2IP TECHNOLOGIES

From ideation to fabrication, we rethink the boundaries between technology and design to deliver innovative Human-Machine Interface (HMI) and Smart Surface solutions to global market leaders. We create new possibilities through innovations in printed electronics, material science, advanced manufacturing processes and embedded system development to transform the surfaces we touch in our everyday lives and simplify how we all interact with our physical environment.

 

Contact Information :

Annie Couture
Manager, Corporate Communications and Executive projects
(514) 575-7426
a.couture@e2ip.com

We are pleased to announce a significant investment round to further fuel e₂ip’s growth. Investissement Quebec becomes a strategic partner in addition to the renewed commitment of our private investors.

The strategic partnership with Investissement Québec, will accelerate the implementation of our business plan, both in terms of the development of our intellectual property portfolio and the deployment of our growth strategy through the integration of technological and industrial acquisitions.

Read the full announcement in French here.