This Startup Just Raised $22.5M to Fix a $650B Manufacturing Nightmare

Jan de Vries · 2026-07-31

### A Big Win for Electronics Manufacturing Keiron Printing Technologies, a DeepTech company based in Eindhoven, just closed a hefty Series A round. The company, which specializes in a cutting-edge precision solder paste printing technology called Laser-Induced Forward Transfer (LiFT), pulled in about $22.5 million (€20.7 million). It's a significant vote of confidence in a solution that tackles one of the most stubborn and costly problems in electronics manufacturing. The investment round was co-led by Invest-NL, DeepTechXL, and Waves Capital. They were joined by a mix of existing and new backers, including Ramphastos Investments, ATUM Ventures, Cottonwood Technology Fund, and TNO Ventures. This diverse group of investors clearly sees something special in Keiron's approach. ### The Problem That Costs Billions Here's the thing: solder paste printing is the unsung villain of the electronics world. It's the process of applying the tiny dots of solder that connect components to circuit boards. When it fails, it causes the vast majority of defects in printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs). We're talking about a problem that plagues a global market worth well over $650 billion a year. For decades, manufacturers have just lived with this. They've accepted the high failure rates, the wasted materials, and the production delays because no one had figured out a better way. It was the industry's most expensive open secret. But Keiron claims they've finally cracked the code. ### A Completely New Approach Instead of tweaking the old methods—like stencil printing or jet printing—Keiron decided to throw the playbook out entirely. They've developed a fully digital, contactless printing process. Their flagship product, the HF2 LiFT Printer, is designed to replace three separate pieces of equipment: the stencil printer, the jet printer, and the SPI inspection system. One machine does it all. This isn't just a small improvement. Keiron says their technology delivers some pretty dramatic results: - **First-pass yield** jumps from an industry-typical 60% to over 95%. That's a massive reduction in rework and scrap. - **Production lead time** is cut in half because there are no physical stencils to create and change over. - **Production uptime** doubles, meaning the machines are actually running more often. - **Programming** is 10 times faster, so switching between different products is much quicker. ### Why This Matters for AI Hardware You might be wondering, "Why should I care about solder paste?" Well, the payoff is huge, especially for the next generation of AI hardware. Think about the most advanced computer chips—they can have up to 10,000 individual connections. Conventional printing methods just can't handle that density without breaking down. Yields plummet. Keiron's digital process was built specifically to close this gap. It's designed to carry the entire PCBA industry into the era of Industry 4.0, where manufacturing is autonomous, self-optimizing, and doesn't need constant human babysitting. The company was founded in 2019 as a spin-off from the TNO Holst Centre, a top research lab in the Netherlands, and it's still working closely with TNO on future development. ### What's Next for Keiron? Hessel Mittelmeijer, an investment manager at DeepTechXL, summed it up nicely: "AI, defence growth, and increasing manufacturing complexity are accelerating the need for digital transformation in EMS. Keiron solves one of the industry's biggest production challenges with a scalable, digital approach." With this fresh capital, Keiron plans to hit the gas. They're going to ramp up production of the HF2, expand their commercial and support teams across Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific, and pour more money into R&D for their next-generation technology. For electronics manufacturers struggling with reliability and speed, it looks like help is finally on the way.