Munich, May 10th, 2006 – JUMATECH GmbH, a leading supplier for the PCB industry, expands its product portfolio and production capacity with financial support by Cipio Partners, Chemolio Holding AG and various private investors that are competent in the business. “JUMATECH is assuming a clear technological pioneering role in printed circuit board manufacturing industry”, explains Werner Dreesbach of Cipio Partners. “JUMATECH’s wire-written printed circuit boards open up numerous application areas that previously were not accessible – at substantially reduced cost.”
Cipio Partners is an internationally leading investment management house in the secondary direct market. Founded in mid-2003, Cipio manages a number of international funds in early and late-stage venture capital as well as in mid-market investment segments. The investment which is atypical for Cipio Partners is a result from the longstanding and close relationship with JUMATECH’s new management team. Cipio has branches in Munich, London, and San Jose. Chemolio Holding is a holding company with headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland that invests in companies active in technology, leisure and health.
As part of the current round of financing, JUMATECH expanded its management team to be well positioned to meeting the demands of their global customers. Apart from founder and CTO Markus Wölfel, Mr. Franz Maidl assumes the role of CEO for the company with immediate effect. Mr. Maidl has long-standing management experience from internationally leading companies like Mentor Graphics and Innoveda which develop complex electronics for telecommunications, automotive electronics and industrial automation.
Mr. Fabian Rüchardt acts as CFO. Mr. Rüchardt worked for LSI Logic and later on for Siemens Semiconductors (now Infineon), where he was responsible for a business unit in the field of consumer electronics. In 2002, he changed to Infineon’s venture capital organization in the US. He made and managed numerous international investments in technology related companies. At the beginning of 2005, he founded a consulting organization for upstart technology companies. Besides being part of the JUMATECH management team, Fabian Rüchardt is also active as Venture Partner for Cipio Partners.
With immediate effect, Mr. Jörg Sperling will be Vice President for marketing and business development and be responsible for the expansion of JUMATECH’s market position. Prior to this position, Mr. Sperling was founder and CEO of the internationally operating consulting firm Altos Advisors. Before, he worked as partner for various leading venture capital firms in the USA, and in various sales positions for Infineon.
The “Wirelaid” PCB Concept
The main innovation of the “wire-written PCB” consists in an improvement of the long-established technique of printed circuit board manufacturing with a new and particularly innovative production step. Using the patented JUMATECH Wirelaid technique, wires are applied on the copper foils of multilayer boards which will then be laminated together. After laminating, these wires will be inside the PCB, and may be contacted cost-efficiently via etched pads from outside using traditional etching techniques. The Wirelaid technology uses isolated round and flat wires with an extremely high current carrying capacity. If necessary, resistor wires can be integrated to implement PCB heating or to implement thermocouples in the board. Currently, JUMATECH is working intensively on the design of further applications, e.g. the use of cooling wires or the integration of glass fibres into the board.
The integration of wires in a board opens up completely new, previously unknown design options and substantial cost savings potential. E.g. rigid-flex applications can be realized with considerably lower cost and higher efficiency. Power electronics may be combined simply and easily with conventional electronic circuitry. Further technological advantages for the end customer are the board’s high current carrying capacity (up to 20A per wire) and a minimization of required board area. At the same time, combining conventional PCB technology with wirelaid opens up new application possibilities such as three-dimensional, optoelectronic, completely shielded EMC boards or heated PCBs.
Further information is available on the upcoming SMT trade show in Nuremberg, Germany (May 30.06 – June 1.06) at the JUMATECH booth 321 in hall 9.
Three-Dimensional Boards
It is possible to produce foldable PCBs using JUMATECH 3D technology. For this purpose, foldable wires are integrated in the board. These wires can withstand considerable mechanical stress. In a JUMATECH 3D board, a groove is milled straight across the board, perpendicular to the wires in the PCB. The board can be folded up to 135 degrees. This technique offers the advantage of working with a rigid board right to the last assembly step (i.e. guaranteeing easy processing and process conformity). It also offers connectivity without a connector and without restrictions of folding radius (i.e. lower costs because previously required connector elements are not needed, and faster processing). Overall, both factors lead to a significantly less costly PCB with a smaller bill-of-materials for the client.
More Power on Less Area
Boards that use JUMATECH technology can carry high currents. These currents are led through the wires embedded in the PCB’s interior, permitting to master high currents without additional area and cost expenditures. In the board’s interior, electrical connections with high current load are established using one or several parallel lacquered wires instead of etched conductors. Automotive circuits are one application example for JUMATECH Power. The share of electric and electronic circuits in cars is growing constantly, and new applications require increasingly higher supply currents. JUMATECH Power creates the prerequisites for boards that can carry high currents, and will form the base for state-of-the-art automotive technology.
About JUMATECH
JUMATECH GmbH with its headquarters close to Nuremberg in Germany designs and markets innovative printed circuit board technology. The company has invented the wirelaid PCB. In this technique, wires are welded to the copper foils of multilayer boards which are then laminated together. After lamination, the wires are located in the interior of the board and are contacted from outside via etched pads. In cooperation with customers (e.g. major OEM automotive suppliers), JUMATECH develops solutions, which are then supplied by the company in the form of wire-written copper foils to the OEMs’ board manufacturers. Today, JUMATECH focuses particularly on automotive electronics and industrial automation, where the company cooperates with leading OEM manufacturers.
