Printed Electronics Now Interview: Mari Makkonen of Canatu

Article written by Dave Savastano and published in Printed Electronics Now on 21 April 2025.

Canatu Plc has grown dramatically in recent years, both in terms of sales and new technologies. The company’s carbon nanotube technology is now being featured in film heater projects for automotive ADAS applications, with Canatu partnering with leading automotive supplier DENSO. In addition, Canatu has projects in other fields, including semiconductors and medical diagnostics. Mari Makkonen, VP, IR, communications & marketing for Canatu Plc, offers her insights into Canatu’s recent growth, and what is next for the company.

What is the history behind Canatu?

Canatu was founded in 2004 as a spin-off from Aalto University’s Nanomaterials Group by four senior scientists specializing in materials science, characterization, and aerosol technologies.

The unique process behind Canatu CNTs was invented in the late 1990s and developed in the early 2000s. Until the early 2010s, the focus was on studying the material, exploring its potential, and refining the CNT manufacturing process. In 2015, Canatu received its first mass production award, marking a key milestone on its journey.

Canatu has made remarkable progress since its inception, establishing itself as a leader in advanced CNTs and a trusted partner for forerunners. Today, Canatu collaborates with some of the most exciting companies in the world, together transforming products for better tomorrows with nano carbon.

Headquartered in Finland, Canatu also operates in the US, Japan, and Taiwan. Canatu was listed on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market Finland on 17 September 2024 through the combination with Lifeline SPAC I, a Finnish Special Purpose Acquisition Company founded in 2021 for corporate acquisitions.

What are the key markets that Canatu serves, and how has that changed over the years?

Canatu’s focus areas are semiconductors, automotive, and medical diagnostics. These industries are undergoing technological transformation, driving demand for high-quality CNTs and offering Canatu strong growth and profitability potential.

In the semiconductor industry, the need for advanced chips is expected to rise due to AI, with sub-7 nm chips made by extreme ultraviolet (EUV) technology growing the fastest. The automotive sector is anticipated to shift toward assisted and autonomous driving and electric vehicles (EVs). Meanwhile, medical diagnostics is expected to increasingly transition from laboratory-based testing to point-of-care solutions in parts of the care chain.

In 2024, Semiconductor business’ pro forma revenue increased by 77.2% to €19.7
million (11.1). Automotive business’ pro forma revenue decreased by 7.3% to €2.3 million (2.4). The medical diagnostics business’ pro forma revenue amounted to €0.0 million (–) as it’s still in development.

What are the key advantages of Canatu’s carbon nanotube technology?

Discovered in the 1990s, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have attracted considerable attention as a revolutionary material. With exceptional properties—such as high strength, electrical conductivity, thermal stability, large specific surface area, and optical transmittance—CNTs are considered building blocks of the modern world. Their versatility allows them to be tailored for specific electrical, optical, mechanical, or thermal properties.

However, not all CNTs are the same. Their quality varies significantly based on the manufacturing method. Broadly, CNTs fall into two categories: ‘bulk’ CNTs, produced in high volumes for low-end applications, and ‘advanced’ CNTs, the highest-quality CNTs created in lower volumes for highly engineered solutions.

Canatu focuses on creating advanced CNTs for industry-transforming products. Our competitive advantage is rooted in our differentiated, IPR-protected technology. Canatu produces its carbon nanotubes using a proprietary Dry Deposition™ process, which offers significant material advantages over the traditional wet dispersion method.

This method simplifies CNT production by eliminating multiple steps that can degrade CNT quality, resulting in longer, stronger, and more pristine nanotubes—delivering better performance in end applications. Manufacturing advanced CNTs at scale is inherently challenging, creating high barriers to entry. As a result, Canatu faces only limited competition in its target markets.

Canatu’s platform technology is easily adaptable to new applications and products with reasonable additional cost, supporting scalable and asset-light growth.

In 2024, Canatu invested significantly in research, development, and intellectual property. Key initiatives included a new automated production line, ISO3 cleanroom, advanced instrumentation, coating technologies, and patents.

During the year, Canatu submitted seven new patent applications and was granted 13 patents for prior inventions. By the end of 2024, the company held 137 patents and 76 pending applications across 39 patent families, along with trade secrets related to its processes, reactor technology, and applications.

How has Canatu benefited from becoming a publicly listed company?

The listing has brought several key benefits. We have gained an exceptionally strong board with extensive experience in developing growth companies. It has also increased our public visibility, resulting in significant PR coverage and improved brand awareness in Finland. This, in turn, has helped us attract top talent and support our recruitment efforts. In 2024, Canatu expanded its workforce, increasing full-time equivalent employees to 123 (93 in 2023) ending the year with a total headcount of 137 (109). We are proud to bring a truly unique company to the Helsinki Stock Exchange—one that is at the forefront of EUV technology in the semiconductor industry.

How impressive is Canatu’s growth, considering it recently earned 21st place on Deloitte’s Fast 50 for Finland?

In 2024, Canatu sustained strong top-line growth, increasing revenue to €22.0 million (13.6), reflecting a compound average annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 95% since 2020. This revenue growth was accompanied by a strong increase in gross profit, which grew by 43.1% to €13.8 million (9.6), representing 62.5% of total revenue.

The growth was driven primarily by strong development in the semiconductor business. In 2024, the semiconductor industry accounted for a very large share of Canatu’s revenue at 89.6%, while the automotive sector made a limited contribution of 10.3%. Medical diagnostics had no material impact as it remained in the development phase.

How will Canatu’s new production facility in Vantaa help it continue its growth?

Canatu’s new factory and office facility in Vantaa spans over 3,000 m², nearly doubling the company’s current combined production and office space. This expansion is a strategic move to support Canatu’s long-term growth plans.

The additional space will enable increased space for potential future customer reactors, the development of next-generation reactors, and the establishment of a medical diagnostics laboratory. It will also address the urgent need for more office space, as the current headquarters have reached full capacity.

To meet its long-term financial targets by 2027, Canatu anticipates increasing its workforce by 25–35 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees annually. The new facility provides the necessary infrastructure to support this planned headcount growth.

Moreover, the second factory will enhance operational resilience by meeting redundancy requirements for key customers—helping ensure business continuity and reducing potential risks for its part.

Canatu has created a strong partnership with DENSO; what are some of the areas where the two companies are working together?

Canatu recently announced it has signed a joint development agreement with DENSO Corporation to improve CNT performance. The purpose of this JDA is to optimize the sheet resistance to transmittance ratio of carbon nanotubes. By improving this ratio, Canatu and DENSO aim to achieve high electrical conductivity while maintaining excellent light transmittance, thereby enhancing performance in current applications and expanding the potential use cases of CNTs to new ones.

This joint development agreement builds on the earlier Memorandum of Understanding announced by Canatu in December 2024. It further strengthens the parties’ long-standing collaboration to improve CNT performance, develop high-performance reactors, and advance practical applications for CNT technology, such as ADAS camera and full windshield heaters.

Carbon nanotubes, known for their unique combination of properties, including high electrical and thermal conductivity, along with exceptional optical performance, are also a promising material for a wide range of emerging applications, such as solar cells.

What is your outlook for Canatu’s future?

Canatu’s long-term financial targets are as follows:

• Achieve over EUR 100 million in annual revenue in 2027.
• Reach an EBIT margin (adjusted for goodwill amortization in accordance with Finnish Accounting Standards) of over 30% in 2027.

We expect the relative contribution to the targeted revenue to be large from Semiconductor, medium from Automotive, and limited from Medical. In line with our disclosure policy, we are not providing specific numerical guidance or other financial outlook for the 2025 financial year at this time. However, we will reassess the possibility of issuing such guidance later during the year.