French Nanowire LED Innovator raises €30 Million
Intel Capital joins existing investors to commercialise Aledia's GaN-based nanowire technology
Aledia, a Grenoble-based developer of next-generation 3D LEDs based on its GaN-nanowires-on-silicon platform, has closed its Series C financing round with Intel Capital as a new investor.
In addition to Intel Capital, the majority of existing Aledia investors participated in the €30 million round, including Braemar Energy Ventures, Demeter, the Ecotechnologies Fund of Bpifrance (the French national industrial bank), IKEA Group, Sofinnova Partners and Supernova Invest.
"The opportunity for Aledia's breakthrough nanowire-LED display technology is huge," said Giorgio Anania, CEO, chairman and co-founder of Aledia. "Today more than 3 billion people interface to the Internet with mobile displays, and LED technology is expected to be used in a majority of these displays in the next few years. The unique advantages that 3D LED technology delivers position it as the driver of a once-in-a-generation shift.
"This financing round and collaboration with Intel reflect this potential and underscores the interest that our 3D nanowire-on-silicon technology is getting in the mobile-display market and from leading global technology-investment firms," said Anania.
Aledia is developing a new generation of LEDs that are manufactured on large-diameter silicon wafers (200mm/8-inch, scalable to 300mm/12 inch) and targeted at mobile display applications. The LED technology is expected to lead to displays that are more energy-efficient, much brighter and manufacturable at moderate cost. The silicon-based technology also is well suited for the integration of electronics.
Aledia is working on next-generation displays with several large industrial partners. The company also is developing large/existing displays (smart phones, laptops, tablets, etc.) as well as smaller, newer displays for VR/AR/MR and smartwatch applications, using its megapixel integrated silicon chips.
Anania said this Series C financing will support the company's plans to significantly accelerate the speed of its LED technology development, including acquiring critical equipment.
"Energy efficiency, display quality and cost are three critical characteristics of mobile consumer electronics displays, and we feel Aledia's 3D LED technology, based on large-area silicon fabrication, can impact this space," said Gregory M. Bryant, senior vice president and general manager of the Client Computing Group at Intel Corporation. "We're excited to work with Aledia to innovate display technologies across client platforms."
