Nov 30, 2021

The electronics manufacturing industry is growing rapidly leveraging the latest technology advancements in fabrication processes and components designing. The major electronics manufacturing trends include the use of advanced materials, organic electronics, and miniaturization. Besides, disruptive technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) play a significant role in enabling smart manufacturing practices and also they act as the growth drivers for the industry. Hence, startups and scaleups increasingly develop innovations around designing and manufacturing electronic components for high efficiency and compatibility. Similarly, 3D printing is enabling the electronics fabrication industry to become more dynamic and cost-effective. Along with organic electronics, the top electronics manufacturing trends improve the efficiency, durability, and sustainability of industrial and consumer electronics. Innovation Map outlines the Top 10 Electronics Manufacturing Trends & 20 Promising Startups For this in-depth research on the Top 10 Electronics Manufacturing Trends & Startups, we analyzed a sample of 1 112 global startups and scaleups. The result of this research is data-driven innovation intelligence that improves strategic decision-making by giving you an overview of emerging technologies & startups in the electronics manufacturing industry. These insights are derived by working with our Big Data & Artificial Intelligence-powered StartUs Insights Discovery Platform , covering 2 093 000+ startups & scaleups globally. As the world’s largest resource for data on emerging companies, the SaaS platform enables you to identify relevant startups, emerging technologies & future industry trends quickly & exhaustively. In the Innovation Map below, you get an overview of the Top 10 Electronics Manufacturing Trends & Innovations that impact companies worldwide. Moreover, the Electronics Manufacturing Innovation Map reveals 20 hand-picked startups, all working on emerging technologies that advance their field. Click to download Tree Map reveals the Impact of the Top 10 Electronics Manufacturing Trends Based on the Electronics Manufacturing Innovation Map, the Tree Map below illustrates the impact of the Top 10 Electronics Manufacturing Trends. Advanced materials are required for the fabrication process as there are limitations for the commonly used semiconductor materials to achieve miniaturization and sustainability. Similarly, organic electronics addresses global concerns about sustainability and eco-friendly manufacturing. Electronics manufacturing startups employ AI and IoT in the designing, fabrication process and both technologies are also important growth drivers for the industry. Further, advanced circuit packaging reduces the size of a chip every year and integrates more and more functions. Because of the growing demand for flexibility and customization of embedded systems, startups work on new system architectures and designs. Technologies enabling printed electronics are also gaining traction and, at the same time, 3D printing is getting a lot more attention due to its mass customization, decentralized production, and rapid prototyping capabilities. Click to download Global Startup Heat Map covers 1 112 Electronics Manufacturing Startups & Scaleups The Global Startup Heat Map below highlights the global distribution of the 1 112 exemplary startups & scaleups that we analyzed for this research. Created through the StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, the Heat Map reveals that the US, followed by India and Europe, leads the way with a high concentration of electronics manufacturing startups & scaleups. Below, you get to meet 20 out of these 1 112 promising startups & scaleups as well as the solutions they develop. These electronics manufacturing startups are hand-picked based on criteria such as founding year, location, funding raised, and more. Depending on your specific needs, your top picks might look entirely different. Click to download 1. Advanced Materials The semiconductor industry has been reliant on silicon for decades, there is a limit to how far you can etch, lithograph, and pattern a silicon material. As a result, innovation to increase the performance of integrated circuits is coming from new materials and architectures. Startups and scaleups are developing silicon alternatives and other semiconductor materials or composites such as graphene, nanomaterials, GaN, and SiC for high performance and efficiency. Odyssey Semiconductor develops GaN Semiconductor Material US-based startup Odyssey Semiconductor builds high-performance power switching gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductor material. Their GaN processing technology allows for the realization of vertical current conduction GaN devices which extend application voltages from 1,000 V to over 10,000V. In fact, It extends well beyond the consumer electronics application and into applications such as electric vehicles, industrial motor control, and energy grid applications. Water Front Graphene provides Graphene Nanocarbon Materials Japanese startup Water Front Graphene manufactures graphene nanocarbon materials for electronics fabrication. They are capable of manufacturing and selling graphene in an amount used for fabrication. Specifically, the applications include touch panels, conductive ink, and 3D printing, supercapacitors, automobiles, thermal materials, and semiconductors. 2. Organic Electronics Organic Electronics offer massive advantages over traditional inorganic electronics. This is because they are cost-effective, flexible, indissoluble, optically transparent, lightweight, and consume low power. In addition, the rise in awareness for sustainable development and eco-friendly manufacturing attracts manufacturers to opt for organic electronics. Also, designing circuits with microbial components or producing devices with biodegradable and recyclable materials is seen to be the next electronics manufacturing trend. Moreover, the application of organic materials to manufacture electronic devices enables electronics manufacturers to use safer, fewer, and more abundantly available raw materials. Hence, it creates new business opportunities for companies and this is sure to give them a competitive edge in the long run. Flask offers Materials for Organic Electronics Devices Japanese startup Flask develops materials for application in various products, such as organic displays, organic lighting, and organic solar cells. Examples of materials include electron transport materials, electron injection materials, light-emitting materials, coating materials, and organic solar cell materials. Using these materials helps the device manufacturers to meet customer demands such as high efficiency, low power consumption, high reliability, as well as adaptation to next-generation materials. Koala Tech develops Organic Semiconductor Laser Diode Japanese startup Koala Tech develops an organic semiconductor laser diode. Their laser diode technology is based on organic fluorescent semiconductors, which are generally easier, less harmful, and faster to process into thin films. It enables manufacturers to use an organic semiconductor laser diode as a low-cost light source that easily integrates into OLED and organic electronic platforms. 3. Artificial Intelligence AI-powered solutions are gaining popularity in every sector. AI impacts the growth of semiconductor manufacturing in two ways, one is by building demand for innovative AI-capable electronics components, and two, enhancing the product manufacturing and design processes. The conventional methods have limitations to reshaping product development cycles, improving product design processes, reducing defects, and delivering products faster to the market. But application AI is solving all these limitations. The implementation of predictive maintenance in the production lines also helps manufacturers reduce downtime. Hence, artificial intelligence is one of the most important technologies among the electronics manufacturing trends. Cybord develops AI-based Component Inspection Software Israeli startup Cybord offers AI-based component inspection software. They use visual inspection technology powered by artificial intelligence to achieve this. It is capable of doing material sourcing, manufacturing, and defect management of individual components and the assembled product as a whole. Implementing this software in the manufacturing facilities helps the electronics companies assure that each and every assembled component is 100% genuine and untampered. Celus offers an AI-powered Engineering Platform German startup Celus creates an AI-powered engineering platform to automate all the manual steps in the engineering process. The startup’s platform automatically finds fitting components with the help of components information blocks available in the engineering platform. Thus, It helps to design and generate schematics and PCB-floor planning with a single click. It is also designed to fully integrate into an existing electronics manufacturing environment and automate the process from concept to design. In general, it helps manufacturers reduce product development times and complexity in the development process. 4. Internet of Things The rapid growth of the Internet of Things represents an unprecedented opportunity for the electronics manufacturing industry. It re-evaluates the fabrication process and manages practices that are found to be difficult to achieve with conventional approaches. In other ways, the IoT enables electronic manufacturing machines to self-process and store data while being digitally connected. Continuous improvements in the fabrication of sensors are also required since sensors are the key components that enable IoT applications. Further, the transition to 5G-enabled devices requires flawless, innovative chips with more efficient architectures at lower costs. AnalogueSmith develops Integrated Circuit for IoT Sensor Nodes Singaporean startup AnalogueSmith specializes in integrated circuit design for IoT sensor nodes. Analogue and RF circuits are critical to all integrated circuits and the startup offers complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-based integration of RF, analog, and digital functionality. This CMOS-based approach helps reduce costs without compromising on the performance requirements. Cygnusemi offers 5G Connection Chip Chinese startup Cygnusemi is working on a 5G connection chip. In addition, they focus on related peripheral chips and integrated application chips covering 5G Internet of Everything scenarios. Their products are designed to bring advanced connectivity to smart devices and smart cities, enabling electronics manufacturers to incorporate quality chip technology into their smart products. 5. Embedded Systems Embedded systems are an unavoidable part of any electronic device nowadays and it has a crucial role in deciding the speed, security, size, and power of the devices. Since we are in the transition phase of a connected world, there is high demand for embedded systems. So the designing and manufacturing sector of such systems is undergoing numerous innovations to improve performance, security, and connectivity capabilities. Further, in electronics manufacturing facilities, these systems are useful for increasing machine control and monitoring. Dover Microsystems develops Processor Level Security Solutions US-based startup Dover Microsystems offers security solutions in protecting devices against network-based attacks at the processor level. Their hardware-based technology acts as a bodyguard to the host processor, monitoring every instruction executed to ensure it complies with a set of security, safety, and privacy rules. In this way, it empowers processors to protect themselves in real-time from the exploitation of software vulnerabilities. Hence, integrating their technology within the embedded systems helps manufacturers solve the challenges associated with device security. Luos provides Open-Source and Real-Time Orchestrator for Distributed Architectures French startup Luos develops an open-source and real-time orchestrator for distributed architectures to easily design, test, and deploy embedded applications. The startup’s solution encapsulates hardware and software functions as microservices. So, each microcontroller communicates with and recognizes one other, but remains independent of each other. Further, the startup offers a reusable configuration profile and offers more flexibility in the hardware development cycle. Looking for more electronics manufacturing startups & technologies? 6. Printed Electronics Printing electronics components on a semiconductor substrate is the most effective way to reduce the overall cost of the manufacturing process. So manufacturers are always trying to tackle this challenge by searching for new technologies and advancements in conventional printing technologies. Unlike traditional semiconductors, which use tiny wires as circuits, printed electronics rely on conductive inks and often flexible films and are capable of printing anywhere. Further, the advancements in printing technologies also help the flexible hybrid electronics field to obtain enough momentum. So startups and scaleups are developing solutions for advanced printing technologies. Omniply develops Delamination Technique for Printed Electronics Canadian startup Omniply offers a delamination technology that facilitates the separation of flexible circuits from their rigid carrier. It creates high-performance electronic devices on flexible substrates without compromising device performance or without changing the manufacturing infrastructure. This delamination technique makes the process cheaper and also simpler and eco-friendly, compared to traditional delamination methods. In addition, it overcomes resolution and reliability limits associated with printed electronics by using traditional CMOS infrastructure for device fabrication. Mateprincs provides Functional Inks or Materials for Printed Electronics Spanish startup Mateprincs manufactures functional inks or materials for printed electronics. They manufacture materials specifically for the production of electronic devices using printing techniques such as inkjet, flat screen printing, slot coating, and offset lithography. Overall, their products help electronics manufacturers produce quality printed products. 7. Advanced IC Packaging In recent years, chip packaging has become a hot topic along with chip design. The traditional way to scale a device based on Moore’s law has limitations nowadays. The other way to get the benefits of scaling is to put multiple complex devices in an advanced package. So, semiconductor manufacturers develop new advanced IC packaging technologies to provide greater silicon integration in increasingly miniaturized packages. This also enables manufacturers to offer customization and improve yields by vertically stacking modular components. Besides, advanced IC packaging optimizes manufacturing to balance customer needs against overall costs. PHIX offers Photonic Integrated Circuits Assembly and Packaging Dutch startup PHIX provides assembly and packaging services for photonic integrated circuits (PICs). To make PICs a part of a photonics-enabled module, it needs to be connected to components like optical fibers, other PICs, cooling solutions, and electronics. The startup is capable of designing and manufacturing the package in which these connections are made. PHIX helps the semiconductor industry to optimize the PIC and module design, process, and equipment, as well as scale up production. Onto Innovation develops Advanced IC Packaging Equipment US-based startup Onto Innovation builds equipment for advanced packaging processes for the semiconductor industry. The startup’s JetStep W2300 System features specialized large field optics and key system advantages to deliver maximum throughput without limiting resolution and overlay. This enables electronics manufacturers to tackle IC packaging challenges along with device performance, quality, and reliability issues. 8. Miniaturized Electronics Miniaturization enabled the use of electronics in several novel application areas. Particularly, healthcare and automotive industry applications have space limitations in terms of implementing specific devices. Previously, the miniaturization concept was limited by their practical handling, display, and battery, but not by the built-in electronics. So there are innovations happening to make electronics components as small as possible by maintaining speed, reliability, and efficiency. Another important aspect of miniaturization is the integration of more and more features into a single component. For example, Nanonet sensors and Forksheet FET are a couple of recent developments in miniaturized electronic components. Alixlabs offers ALE-Based Method of Manufacturing Nanostructures Swedish startup AlixLabs provides an atomic layer etching (ALE)-based method of manufacturing nanostructures with a characteristic size below 20 nm. Their technology achieves nanostructure fabrication beyond the resolution limit for optical and electron beam lithography. It also enables an economically affordable way of transistor channel scaling for sub-20 nm technology nodes. Further, this allows for a higher level of device integration, in turn, reducing costs, increasing speed, and lowering the energy consumption of devices. Spectricity provides Spectral Sensing Solutions Belgian startup Spectricity develops miniaturized integrated spectral sensing solutions. Their patented wafer-scale hyperspectral filter technology, combined with CMOS integration processes, result in miniaturized sensors. Unlike other solutions, their filters do not require complex and bulky optics or packaging, slow scanning, or sophisticated calibration. Hence, it produces sensing devices compatible with the size, power consumption, and cost requirements of mobile devices. 9. Additive Manufacturing 3D Printing in electronics manufacturing eliminates the need for flat circuit boards. It enables new innovative designs and shapes that could not have been produced through conventional means. 3D printers also fabricate electronic components as a single, continuous part, effectively creating fully functional electronics that require little or no assembly. Consequently, the implementation of this electronics manufacturing trend speeds up the prototyping process, offers mass customization, and benefits from decentralized parts production. In general, 3D printing technology made possible electronic components production in terms of 3D design and not only 2D, with new ways of stacking the circuits. Vanguard Photonics provides 3D Nanofabrication for Photonic Integration German startup Vanguard Photonics offers 3D nanofabrication for photonic integration. The startup’s technology overcomes key challenges of large-scale photonic integration and system assembly by enabling in situ printing of facet attached beam-shaping elements. It also enables precise adaptation of vastly dissimilar mode profiles and permits alignment tolerances compatible with cost-efficient passive assembly techniques. In general, the startup paves the way to automated assembly of photonic multi-chip systems with high performance and versatility. ATLANT 3D Nanosystems offers Atomic Layer 3D Printing Technology Danish startup ATLANT 3D Nanosystems develops atomic layer 3D printing technology. It enables materials, devices, and microsystem development and manufacturing with atomic precision. The startup’s technology is capable of performing printing on simple and complex surfaces atom-by-atom. Hence, it helps multi-material, atomically precise, and highly scalable atomic layer advanced manufacturing for rapid prototyping and manufacturing of micro and nanodevices. 10. Immersive Technologies There is a high dependency on the human workforce in different stages of electronics manufacturing. So there are possibilities for human errors and it definitely affects the overall manufacturing efficiency. The adoption of Immersive technologies is an effective solution to overcome these challenges. Such solutions inspect design objects at all possible scales, thereby eliminating defects in products at the design stage. Specifically, they detect design errors in the circuitry as well as common manufacturing errors ranging from slivers, missing solder pads, and starved terminals, before fabrication begins. In addition, it facilitates personnel training, prototype development, assembly maintenance, and enables operators to visualize workflows before they adjust their production lines. inspectAR offers Augmented Reality Toolkit For PCB Inspection Canadian startup inspectAR provides an Augmented Reality toolkit for PCB manufacturing and testing workflows. It takes the PCB design information and then matches it to calibration images of the PCB sample using Augmented Reality. The software along with the toolkit is used to determine the position of the PCB. Further, it checks the board through the augmented reality format. In general, it helps to inspect, debug, rework, and assemble PCBs in less time, without mistakes or frustration, thus increasing productivity. Misterine provides Augmented Reality Based Software Solutions Misterine is a Czech startup that offers augmented reality software for assembly lines. The startup’s solution visually supports complicated assembly procedures with step-by-step instructions. Also, the system is interactive and the computer vision capability immediately detects errors to provide notifications to its users. Hence, it eliminates human errors, reduces the overall workload, and increases the efficiency of assembly practices. Discover More Electronics Manufacturing Trends, Technologies & Startups These electronics manufacturing trends promote the transition into adaptive and smart manufacturing practices. In general, the future manufacturer’s major focus is to build efficient and miniaturized components for specialized applications. The use of advanced materials, adoption of advanced packaging and printing technologies for fabrication helps achieve these goals. Similarly, the transition to organic electronics helps companies to address the global concern about electronic waste and sustainability. In addition, other innovations are also influencing the industry, such as big data and analytics, to improve the decision-making process. The Top 10 Electronics Manufacturing Trends & Startups outlined in this report only scratch the surface of trends that we identified during our in-depth innovation and startup scouting process. Among others, additive manufacturing and organic electronics, as well as miniaturized electronics and embedded systems will transform the sector as we know it today. Identifying new opportunities and emerging technologies to implement into your business goes a long way in gaining a competitive advantage. Get in touch to easily and exhaustively scout relevant technologies & startups that matter to you today!