News: Microelectronics
18 November 2021
GaN Systems raises $150m in growth capital funding
GaN Systems Inc of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (a fabless developer of gallium nitride-based power switching semiconductors for power conversion and control applications) has announced a US$150m growth capital funding round to accelerate innovation and adoption of GaN technology across its automotive, consumer, industrial and enterprise markets.
The fundraising round was led by Fidelity Investments (celebrating 75 years since its founding, with US$4.2 trillion in assets under administration), joined by new strategic investor Vitesco Technologies (an international developer and manufacturer of powertrain technologies for sustainable mobility) plus existing investors including BMW i Ventures.
GaN Systems says it will use the new funding to fuel the rapid market penetration of GaN as global power electronics companies shift from legacy silicon devices to small, low-cost, efficient power systems.
Vitesco has announced a broad strategic partnership with GaN Systems to enable GaN solutions across the electric vehicle (EV) platform. This follows GaN Systems’ announcement in September of a capacity agreement with BMW.
“By combining our automotive know-how with our partner’s GaN expertise, we will be able to reap the benefits of comprehensive wide-bandgap technology in the car,” says Thomas Stierle, member of the executive board and head of Vitesco Technologies’ Electrification Technology business unit.
“The demand for higher-performing, more efficient power electronics is growing exponentially, and traditional silicon solutions cannot keep up,” says GaN Systems’ CEO Jim Witham. “Gallium nitride takes the baton from legacy silicon to enable smaller platforms to run cooler and use fewer materials,” he adds, claiming that GaN Systems is the only GaN power transistor company currently shipping to automotive, consumer, industrial and data-center customers. “Our relationships with industry leaders and our $8bn pipeline tell us that the GaN inflection is here, and the time is now to accelerate investment in the business.”
With more than 200 billion device field hours, global companies (including industry leaders like Dell, Samsung, HARMAN, Siemens, Signify and Philips) rely on GaN Systems’ transistors to reduce levels of CO2 emissions and increase the utility and energy efficiency of their power systems. GaN Systems says that, with just a small change in the electronics design, its transistors enable design engineers to significantly decrease the size, weight and power lost by 4x while reducing overall system costs.
GaN Systems signs capacity agreement with BMW
Delta joins BMW i Ventures as strategic investor in GaN Systems
