Imprint Energy announced the successful completion of a $5 million investment round. Investors included Imprint’s technology partner Semtech, the u.life fund, which is managed by Global Value Investment Portfolio Management (GVIP), and previous investors including Phoenix Venture Partners (PVP).
 
Imprint has continued its progress toward commercialization. Multiple manufacturing partners have successfully printed Imprint batteries using their existing standard printing equipment, and Imprint batteries are moving into field trials of IoT products. One of Imprint’s batteries has been especially designed to power IoT devices that communicate using Semtech’s LoRa devices and wireless radio frequency technology (LoRa Technology) for low-power wireless networks, and Semtech and its partners are early customers of Imprint batteries.
 
Imprint’s batteries are well-suited to powering large numbers of IoT devices, sensors and labels now coming to market. Imprint has continued to advance both its ZincPoly battery chemistry and its process technology for high-volume, low-cost production. The zinc polymer-based chemistry enables environmentally-safer batteries that are rechargeable and/or disposable; offer higher energy density in thin formats; show low resistance to support the power surges needed to wirelessly communicate over long distances; and are simpler to make.

Imprint’s manufacturing process technology has been demonstrated on low-, medium- and high-volume printers, including common surface-mount technology (SMT) lines and, as trials have demonstrated, roll-to-roll screen printers. This allows Imprint partners, like electronic manufacturing services (EMS) firms and contract manufacturers, to make batteries via a “mass print” approach rather than assembling them one at a time, and to directly integrate Imprint batteries with sensors, chips and antennas, further reducing total device costs.