A British cleantech company is redefining what sustainable electronics can be and giving investors the chance to back one of the most significant material innovations in modern electronics.
Jiva Materials, the Hampshire-based company behind Soluboard®, has developed the world’s first fully recyclable PCB substrate – a material capable of transforming how the electronics industry tackles waste, carbon, and circularity.
Jiva is now raising capital on Crowdcube, as part of a wider funding round. The full opportunity is available here.
This raise offers investors the chance to support a patent-protected technology already drawing attention from major global OEMs, including Amazon and Logitech.
From a single idea to an industry-shaping material
Founder & CPO Jack Herring conceived Soluboard® while studying Product Design at the Royal College of Art. The challenge: PCBs – the backbone of modern electronics are almost impossible to recycle.
His answer became Soluboard®, a novel composite made from natural fibres and a biodegradable polymer, which can be dissolved in hot water to recover copper, fibres, and components without toxic chemicals or high energy.
With CEO Steve Driver leading production and commercialisation and over £3.5 million already invested, Jiva has turned that concept into a validated, industry-ready technology.
A massive market problem – and a clear path to disruption
Electronic waste is the fastest-growing waste stream on Earth, exceeding 60 million tonnes annually. PCBs account for over 40% of this waste – yet almost none are recycled.
According to Fortune Business Insights and Global Market Insights:
- Global PCB market (2023): USD 71–75 billion
- Projected by 2030: USD 113–120 billion
New regulations such as Digital Product Passports, transparency mandates, and Scope 3 emissions reporting are accelerating demand for recyclable, low-carbon materials.
Soluboard® targets exactly this shift, reducing PCB carbon impact and enabling circular recovery where FR-4 boards are currently incinerated or landfilled.
Proven traction – strong signals from the market
Jiva Materials has already partnered with 60+ OEMs across consumer electronics, computing, lighting, and industrial applications. Soluboard® has been fabricated and assembled in standard PCB formats, proving compatibility with existing processes.
The company has secured Eurostars funding, is progressing through UL94 V-0 certification, and is completing extended reliability testing – all critical steps toward large-scale adoption.
The investment: powering Jiva’s next phase of scale
Jiva’s Crowdcube round has already raised just under £1 million, with over £500,000 of EIS-eligible capacity still available.
Funds will be used to:
- Establish Jiva’s first UK production line – 300,000 m² annual capacity to support customer onboarding, reliability qualification, and early European orders.
- Launch a second manufacturing line in Asia – 1 million m² annual capacity to meet Tier-1 OEM demand as Soluboard® enters formal product specifications.
- Complete technical and regulatory milestones – including UL94 V-0, long-term reliability testing, and expansion of the engineering team.
A Series A round in early 2026 will fund full industrial scale-up and global expansion.
“We’ve proven the science, the product, and the demand,” says Steve Driver. “Now it’s about scaling fast – and investors can be part of that journey.”
The next five years: setting a new standard in sustainable electronics
Jiva’s goal is to make Soluboard® the global industry standard for sustainable PCB substrates – with multi-site manufacturing across the UK, Europe, and Asia, millions of square metres of output, and inclusion in major OEM materials libraries.
By replacing FR-4 with a recyclable, low-carbon alternative, Jiva Materials aims to shift the industry from incineration to recovery, closing the loop in one of electronics’ most carbon-intensive areas.