Preview of the future design of LPRINT in its commercial version
While 3D electronic printing is quietly making inroads, it is already paving the way for a major transformation in the way we design and manufacture our printed circuit boards (PCBs). Although still in its infancy, this technology has the potential to revolutionize their production by offering greater agility, localization, and customization to its stakeholders. Given the omnipresence of electronics in our daily lives and that of industry—from smartphones to cars, including production lines, and the rise of AI—the ability to produce PCBs more efficiently and sustainably is a strategic issue. With its great manufacturing flexibility and its reduced material consumption to the bare minimum, 3D printing has all the cards in hand to disrupt the traditional value chain. In France, one of the players that will be a serious force to be reckoned with in the coming years is LPRINT. To introduce you to this young company supported by Inria (National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology), I interviewed its two founders, Inna Pykhova and Artem Perov.
« I truly believe that, just as 3D printing revolutionized mechanical prototyping and development, it will also transform the way electronics are designed »
Hello Inna / Artem, could you tell us about your educational and professional backgrounds, and how they led you to LPRINT ?
Artem Perov
Artem : I have a background in optoelectronic devices and systems, with over 12 years of experience in embedded systems, PCB design, and advanced laser technologies. Over the years, I’ve led R&D teams in Research Centres, developed complex multilayer rigid-flex PCBs for optoelectronic applications, and taught courses on optical and laser systems at Bauman Moscow State Technical University.
Throughout my career, rapid iteration has always been essential—but PCB prototyping consistently slowed everything down. I often found myself envious of mechanical engineers who could 3D print and test their designs in a matter of hours, while we in electronics had to wait weeks for a board revision. That gap was a constant source of frustration.
Eventually, I started thinking: what if we could bring the speed and flexibility of 3D printing to electronics? As additive manufacturing started transforming other industries, I realized that PCB fabrication was stuck in the past. That’s when the idea behind Lprint really started to take shape—not as a cool innovation, but as a much-needed solution to a problem I encountered over and over again.
Inna Pykhova
Inna : My background is in business and entrepreneurship. Before LPRINT, I scaled an EdTech startup that reached over 20,000 professionals across the CIS region, entirely bootstrapped. I was also responsible for growing and scaling a technical product internationally — a rapid application development platform — which gave me a deep understanding of the challenges faced by product teams working under tight deadlines.
When Artem shared the idea for LPRINT with me, I immediately saw its potential. I had witnessed firsthand how slow iteration kills momentum in product development. That’s when we decided to commit and build LPRINT together..
« The idea that you could create physical objects from digital designs, so quickly and so freely—it honestly blew my mind«
Do you remember the first time you discovered 3D printing? Did you immediately see its potential? ?
Artem : Yes, I remember very well the first time I saw a 3D printer in action—it was many years ago, a basic filament printer. Since I’ve always loved building things, 3D printing immediately caught my attention. The idea that you could create physical objects from digital designs, so quickly and so freely—it honestly blew my mind. It was like unlocking a new creative dimension.
I truly believe that, just as 3D printing revolutionized mechanical prototyping and development, it will also transform the way electronics are designed, built, and integrated into the world around us
« In 2021, Artem came to me with an idea—a 3D printer capable of producing real, functional PCBs«
How did the story of LPRINT begin?
Inna : We’ve known each other for over 17 years. In 2021, Artem came to me with an idea—a 3D printer capable of producing real, functional PCBs. The concept immediately resonated with me. The need was clear, and the market was clearly calling for a faster, more flexible, and localized way to manufacture electronics. At that early stage, we focused heavily on researching existing technologies, understanding their limitations, and identifying the gaps they left unaddressed. This deep exploration helped us define the unique technological approach that would become the foundation for our product.
By early 2023, we had built a working proof of concept, successfully demonstrating multi material deposition. We were able to print simple test structures, which confirmed that our core idea was technically viable. Since then, we’ve designed our lab prototype and developed a novel dual-material printhead. These advances laid the groundwork for our current stage of development.
At the end of 2023, we began discussions with Inria and their startup support Inria program, Inria Startup Studio. In 2024, we officially joined the program and established ourselves at the Inria center in Saclay, with the support of Université Paris-Saclay and its fablab. This environment has been instrumental in helping us refine our lab prototype and advance the development of our technology. During this time, we also initiated the process of filing a patent together with Inria to protect the core innovations behind our system. In parallel, we have started collaborating with industrial partners who are preparing to test the first samples produced by our prototype..
« The reality is that traditional PCB manufacturing is optimized for mass production, not for flexibility, customization, or sustainability »
What problems in traditional PCB manufacturing are you aiming to solve with your 3D printing solution?
Traditional PCB board
Inna : When we began thinking seriously about Lprint, our goal wasn’t just to make PCB production faster—it was to address a set of deep, systemic problems that exist across the entire industry and that we had repeatedly encountered in our own work.
The reality is that traditional PCB manufacturing is optimized for mass production—not for flexibility, customization, or sustainability. The process is subtractive, chemically intensive, and highly reliant on external suppliers.
In fact, approximately 94% of global PCB production is currently based in Asia. This creates long lead times, elevated transportation costs, and major concerns around supply chain resilience and intellectual property protection.
For teams developing next-generation hardware, especially those working in fast-moving sectors like aerospace, defense, or R&D, this traditional model is no longer viable. These teams need rapid iteration cycles, tight confidentiality, and on-demand production capabilities—all of which are nearly impossible with the current outsourcing model.
We’ve seen countless examples where teams had to wait over three weeks just to receive a basic PCB revision. In many cases, a small design error meant starting over, causing teams to lose time, budget, and momentum. It’s a huge bottleneck—and one that directly stifles innovation.
Across industries, there is a growing push toward reshoring, gaining tighter control over IP, and minimizing environmental impact.
Artem : PCB manufacturing hasn’t fundamentally changed in over 40 years. Meanwhile, electronics are evolving rapidly. Devices are becoming smaller, more complex, and often require non-planar, 3D-shaped circuit boards—something traditional PCB fabrication simply isn’t built for.
With Lprint, we set out to solve this problem by developing a technology that frees electronics from two-dimensional constraints. Our system enables the additive manufacturing of circuit boards with conductive paths in virtually any configuration—even embedded within the volume of the board. Vertical interconnects and edge metallization are seamlessly integrated into the process, without adding complexity or time.
This new level of geometric freedom opens up entirely new design possibilities. Engineers can now create circuits that follow the form of a product, rather than force the product to accommodate the electronics. At the same time, our approach makes it possible to reprint obsolete boards for legacy systems, and dramatically accelerate design validation and iteration.
« Thanks to a laser-enabled system, the process achieves fine feature control at the micron scale, while eliminating the mechanical constraints typical of nozzle-based methods«
Can you explain how your 3D printer works and what kind of components it can produce?
Inna Pykhova and the laboratory prototype of the LPRINT 3D printer
Artem :
Of course. Our 3D printer was developed to fundamentally rethink how printed circuit boards are made. Instead of relying on traditional subtractive processes, it prints PCBs additively, layer by layer, by precisely depositing conductive and insulating materials. Thanks to a laser-enabled system, the process achieves fine feature control at the micron scale, while eliminating the mechanical constraints typical of nozzle-based methods. This opens up new levels of design freedom, precision, and reliability.
The workflow is designed to be intuitive for engineers. Boards are created using standard ECAD tools like Altium, Cadence, or KiCad. From there, Gerber files and stack-up data are imported into our proprietary software, which transforms them into a full 3D model, slices the design into printable layers, and generates the machine instructions required for fabrication.
During printing, the system alternates between conductive and dielectric material deposition with high precision, enabling the creation of complex multilayer structures, embedded vias, dense interconnects, and even three-dimensional, non-planar designs — all within a single integrated process.
Our current lab prototype is capable of producing rigid boards with advanced architectures, including vertical and internal interconnects, edge metallization, and self-supporting elements that go beyond the traditional flat, rectangular PCB format. The platform has been designed with scalability in mind, allowing future versions to support higher build volumes and more intricate geometries.
We are developing the LPRINT system in three main stages. The first phase—our current lab prototype—is focused on validating the fundamental process and material compatibility. The next stages, involving alpha and beta units, will introduce greater automation, improved reliability, and readiness for real-world applications. The final industrial version will feature expanded capabilities, larger build areas, and broader material support to meet demanding manufacturing needs.
« However, even in its current form, it is already comparable to what traditional PCB manufacturing can offer »
What are the conductivity and resolution levels of your printed traces?
Logo de la start-up LPRINT
Artem :
At the moment, we’re working with a lab prototype, and we expect to obtain our first physical sample results by this summer. The primary focus of this phase is to validate the core functionality of our system: the ability to deposit both conductive and dielectric materials within a single, fully integrated additive process.
For this initial version, we intentionally decided not to invest in top-tier components. Our goal wasn’t to maximize resolution from the outset, but rather to prove that the entire system—from material handling to laser control and software—works cohesively. Naturally, this means that the resolution isn’t yet at its peak. However, even in its current form, it is already comparable to what traditional PCB manufacturing can offer, which we see as a very promising starting point.
Conductivity testing for the lab prototype is still underway, and we’ll be able to share more precise values once those measurements are complete.
Looking ahead to the beta version, we’re aiming significantly higher. The system is being designed to reach conductivity levels close to pure copper, made possible through a combination of custom-developed conductive materials and a finely tuned printing process. At the same time, we’re improving resolution by integrating higher-performance hardware and more precise system controls.
Another important development is on the dielectric side. The new material formulation is being engineered to withstand thermal stress beyond 300 °C, which will allow full compatibility with lead-free soldering and other demanding industrial use cases.
« a high-performance, in-house manufacturing platform that meets the speed, quality, and scalability requirements of modern electronics—from concept to production«
Compared to existing solutions, I am thinking in particular of Nano Dimension, what are the specific features and advantages of your system?
Artem and Inna at Electronica 2024, one of the most important international events in the electronics sector
Inna : When we started building Lprint, we knew from the beginning that we didn’t want to create just another prototyping tool. What really pushed us forward was the idea that a 3D-printed PCB should be more than a proof of concept—it should be good enough to go straight into a real device. Otherwise, the value becomes very limited.
If your printed PCB isn’t comparable to a traditional one in terms of performance, then designers have to create two versions of every product: one that works for your printer and another for real-world production. That’s twice the time, twice the cost—and in today’s market, nobody can afford that.
Their approach, based on inkjet printing, is innovative in many aspects, but it comes with inherent limitations. Because inkjet processes require low-viscosity materials, there are natural constraints on conductivity, mechanical strength, and thermal resistance. As a result, the PCBs they produce are well-suited for low-power prototyping and early-stage demonstrations, but they often fall short for real-world applications where high speed, thermal resistance, and precision are critical.
We took a completely different approach. LPRINT is built around a laser-enabled printing process. This gives us much greater flexibility in material formulation and enables us to achieve higher conductivity, improved mechanical strength, better thermal resistance, and overall superior performance compared to inkjet-based methods.
Our goal is to create PCBs that meet IPC standards and can go into aerospace, telecom, or defense systems right off the printer. And beyond performance, there’s speed. Our process is fast—printing each layer in minutes. This means we’re also thinking about scalability. From the start, we wanted something that could serve both for agile prototyping and volume production runs, without compromising on quality.
Lprint is designed to fill that gap: a high-performance, in-house manufacturing platform that meets the speed, quality, and scalability requirements of modern electronics—from concept to production.
« With Lprint, we reduce that 1 PCB iteration from weeks to just a few hours »
In terms of production time and environmental impact, do you have measurable benefits ?
Artem : Absolutely—and this is one of the parts of the project we’re most excited about. With Lprint, we reduce that 1 PCB iteration from weeks to just a few hours. Instead of waiting for boards to arrive from overseas, teams can design, test, tweak, and reprint locally—often within the same day. That kind of agility transforms the pace of innovation and empowers engineers to move much faster without compromising quality.
Inna : And the environmental benefits are equally transformative. Even though we’re still early in terms of large-scale data, we’ve run lifecycle assessments and internal simulations that show some really promising results. Our estimates suggest up to 90% less chemical waste, around 98% less water usage, and roughly 50% less energy consumption compared to traditional subtractive methods. That’s largely because we don’t use large chemical baths, no etching, no plating—we’re only depositing exactly the material that’s needed.
Artem : From a CO₂ perspective, we’re estimating about an 80–85% reduction in emissions per square meter of PCB, simply by cutting out the chemical-intensive steps and long-distance shipping that traditional methods rely on. Of course, these are modeled estimates based on lab-scale data and known industry benchmarks—but the logic behind it is pretty straightforward. Additive manufacturing is inherently more resource-efficient. You’re building, not removing. You’re using less material, less energy, and you’re avoiding a lot of waste along the way.
Inna : It also aligns with what we’re seeing in terms of market trends. Companies across aerospace, telecom, and even consumer electronics are actively looking for ways to reduce their environmental footprint. So when you combine speed, sustainability, and the ability to localize production—it’s a triple win. That’s the kind of impact we believe Lprint can make.
« Our ambition is to make electronics development agile and sustainable and to bring PCB fabrication into the era of manufacturing »
Finally, what can you tell us about your roadmap and ambitions for 2025 and beyond?
Inna : 2025 is going to be a pivotal year for Lprint. We’re finetuning our lab prototype, which will allow us to demonstrate the full capabilities of our technology—from printing multilayer functional PCBs to validating samples under real-world conditions. At the same time, we’re preparing to launch our first pilot programs with key industrial partners across a range of sectors—R&D, industrial electronics, renewable energy, and defense—all of whom have shown strong interest in our solution.
And by end of 2027, our goal is to ship our first beta systems to early adopters. To get there, we’re currently looking for funding to support the next phase of development—including scaling our technical team, building our first beta prototypes, and investing further in R&D to enhance print quality, resolution, and material performance. We’re also expanding our network of pilot partners to ensure the product meets a wide range of real-world use cases and industry requirements.
Artem : Long term, we believe Lprint is a system that empowers engineers to innovate faster, design more freely, and manufacture locally. Our ambition is to make electronics development agile and sustainable and to bring PCB fabrication into the era of manufacturing.