Technology now exists to enable large optical systems that are capable of resolving and measuring faint sources not accessible with current remote sensing instruments and detectors. The possibility of creating ground-based telescopes at the 50m-scale with sufficient wavefront control to both fully overcome the effects of the atmosphere, but with exquisite coronagraphic capability starting at the telescope entrance pupil, means we may solve some of the most fundamental cross-cutting scientific questions: like, "is there life outside of the solar system?".The IAC is part of a consortium with the University of Hawaii and Universities in Lyon to develop the technologies needed for the next generation telescopes aimed at direct imaging of exoplanets around bright stars: the "ExoLife Finder (ELF)" telescope.We have a detailed design for a 3.5-m diameter prototype, nicknamed Small-ELF, tobe built and installed at Teide Observatory by 2025. I will present the technologicaland scientific challenges of such telescope.