Nitronex Corp. Receives $9.5 Million in First-Round Financing
Source: Nitronex
- Investors Include Leading VC Firms and Semiconductor Industry Veterans - Enables Prototype Development of First Gallium Nitride-based Wireless Devices
Raleigh, NC. Nitronex Corp. today announced it has received $9.5 million in first-round financing. Proceeds will be used to develop the first wireless components that incorporate gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors created with Nitronex s innovative manufacturing process.
Nitronex was formed in 1999 to deliver GaN-based semiconductor products to the wireless market. GaN technology is uniquely suited to enable many of the world s bandwidth-intensive wireless communications systems. It also is the only semiconductor technology that enables blue laser diodes, increasing the data storage capabilities of optical devices, such as DVDs. Nitronex s proprietary manufacturing process reduces crystal defects - the primary factor that has limited the widespread adoption of GaN in electronics applications - by more than 100,000 times.
Investors in Nitronex s first-round financing include leading venture capital firms, as well semiconductor industry veterans:
Institutional Investors - Alliance Technology Ventures, the lead investor, is an early-stage venture capital firm specializing in technology startups. - Silicon Valley-based VantagePoint Venture Partners is one of the industry s largest and most successful venture capital firms with nearly $2.5 billion in committed capital. The firm provides active assistance to new communications, networking, semiconductor and Internet infrastructure companies, and is one of the nation s leading investors in the semiconductor market. - Southeast Interactive Technology Funds manages three technology funds and has a capital base in excess of $180 million. Southeast has led or co-invested in the financing of 27 companies to date and focuses on companies located in the Southeast portion of the United States that are involved in the fields of telecommunications, enterprise management, Internet infrastructure, business-to-business, bandwidth enablement and e-commerce. - Boston University s Community Technology Fund provides venture capital and access to Boston University s scientific and technical resources for growing businesses. Recent venture capital investments include Coriolis Networks, Digital Broadband Communications, Emperative, StarGen and Quantum Bridge Communications.
Individual Investors -David Norbury is the president and CEO of RF Micro Devices, a leading supplier of radio frequency integrated circuits for the wireless, broadband and cable communications industries. -John Marren is a semiconductor veteran, currently serving as partner at the Texas Pacific Group, a diversified equity investment firm. Previously, he was managing director and co-Head of the Technology Group at Morgan Stanley, and prior to that was the senior semiconductor research analyst at Alex. Brown & Sons. -Joe Velk is a venture capitalist with Contender Capital. Previously, he was an early investor in Orologic and RF Micro Devices, two highly successful semiconductor ventures.
According to Mike Slawson, general partner with Alliance Technology Ventures, "Gallium nitride is a key enabler for emerging high-speed wireless and optical data storage markets. As a result, companies worldwide have long struggled - unsuccessfully - to commercialize the technology. With the unsurpassed technical and operational expertise of Bob Lynch and his senior management team, Nitronex can lead this untapped market."
"Gallium nitride has been fabricated for years, but devices have never been produced in volume," stated Bob Lynch, president and CEO, Nitronex Corp. "The quality of our investors validates the importance of gallium nitride technology. Furthermore, it reflects Nitronex s ability to deliver gallium nitride semiconductors with the lowest levels of crystal defects ever."
About Nitronex
Nitronex s gallium nitride (GaN) technology is helping create the infrastructure necessary for emerging high-bandwidth wireless communications. The company s manufacturing process is unique in its ability to reduce GaN crystal defects by more than 100,000 times. Additional information on Nitronex is available at http://www.nitronex.com.
Contact: Nitronex Bob Lynch Tel: 919/807-9100 bob_lynch@nitronex.com or Porter Novelli Convergence Group Jon Bornstein Tel: 919/834-1200 jon.bornstein@pnicg.com
NitronexBob Lynch
Tel: 919/807-9100
bob_lynch@nitronex.com
or
Porter Novelli Convergence Group
Jon Bornstein
Tel: 919/834-1200
jon.bornstein@pnicg.com
E-mail: jon.bornstein@pnicg.com
Web site: http://www.nitronex.com
