In an interview room at CES, we spoke with a very happy Frank Christiaens, CEO of Clearink, the Canadian company that has developed a video-rate electrophoretic display technology using an innovative, fast switching mechanism based on total internal reflection.
At SID Display Week 2017, where it won the Best in Show Award in the Small Exhibit Category, Clearink showed its first color prototype. Christiaens said the company did a lot of fundraising after the show, is now closing on its C round of funding, and is oversubscribed by a factor of two. The company now has strategic investors and partners in China, Taiwan, the U.S., and Europe. “Now,” said Christiaens, “we can do more.”
Trial manufacturing of displays started in September 2017, and evaluation kits will be available to customers in the middle of this year. The company will focus on wearables and the education market. There are lots of other possible markets but Clearink only has 37 people, said Christiaens, barely enough to support two markets. He expects the company to grow to 50 employees by the end of the year.
Clearink has opened an office in Shanghai, has a rep in Japan, and is hiring in Shenzhen. The company is working on supply chain improvements and efficiencies. Christiaens was pleased that Merck, which makes the ink for Clearink’s displays, was promoting the company’s products during CES at Merck’s booth at the Sands Convention Center.
The development of new color filter arrays (CFA) will be led by board member and experienced display hand, Joel Pollack. Candice Brown Elliott, who invented the Pentile pixel array, will also contribute to CFA development.
As the interview concluded, Christiaens said “We look forward to astonishing you at SID.” — Ken Werner
