Evoled puts Latvia on OLED map

This startup promises to make world’s most precise displays notably cheaper by lowering the cost of emitting layer 50x and simplifying the production process without compromising quality. The high cost of materials is the key challenge OLED industry must overcome to grow to $37.2 billion by 2020 according to Allied Market Research.

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are the next generation of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The main difference from liquid crystal displays (LCDs) is that OLED technology does not need a backlight to emit colors but replaces it with a thin film of organic compound emitting light in response to an electric current. This allows sharper images, higher viewing angle, thinner display and opportunity to create flexible displays showing even better images than our current flat ones. That’s right – foldable electronic pocket notepads are not far from reality now.

The technology has been around for almost two decades and has already been used in devices like Google Glass, LG Smart OLED-TVs and Samsung OLED Series Smart TV – 55″ Class. However, the hefty price tag has discouraged mass adoption.

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Evoled is a team of scientists from Russian Lomonosov Moscow State University and commercialization experts from Latvia working closely with Institute of Solid State Physics in Latvia and Fraunhofer Institute of Organic Electronics in Germany. The team has ascertained formal industry interest and raised capital to build its first prototype.

It’s working!

“We already have our first working prototype,” shares  Fedor Eremin, CEO of Evoled. “Now our task is to ensure consistent time life of emitting materials, as required for industrial production. Once we do this, we plan to develop the first batch in Latvia and keep growing our team here.”

If Evoled is successful and claims even a small fraction of the multi-billion dollar market, Latvia would be put on industry’s global tech map, stimulate employment in knowledge industry and strengthen its position as a science startup destination. It would be in good company with HansaMatrix, the manufacturer of the best drone of CES 2015 Latvian Airdog who recently opened a hardware accelerator at Riga airport, as well as nanocoating innovator Naco Technologies recently acquired by German Schaeffler Group and still keeping its research and development team in Riga.

Evoled was founded in 2013 at 6th intake of Commercialization Reactor, Baltic region’s biggest accelerator for science-based startups. Evoled will also be present at Commercialization Reactor’s Ignition Event on November 4-5 in Riga.