News: Suppliers
5 November 2021
GaN epi startup IVWorks raises $17.4m in Series C round
IVWorks Co Ltd of Daejeon, South Korea – which was founded in 2011 and manufactures 100-200mm gallium nitride (GaN) epitaxial wafers for RF & power electronics applications – has raised $17.4m in its Series C funding round.
This investment follows the $6.7m raised in December 2019’s Series B round. Companies including YG Investment, Korea Investment & Securities, WONIK Investment Partners, Log Investment, Wooshin Venture Investment, Deslaube PEF and Hyundai Venture Investment have invested a total of $17.4m in new and existing shares.
Characterized by high efficiency and high output power, GaN epiwafers are core materials used in power and RF (radio frequency) devices for applications including fast chargers for IT products, electric vehicle (EV) power convertors, 5G base stations, and defense radars.
IVWorks says that it has used its self-developed technology of a highly efficient and eco-friendly epitaxy system as well as an artificial intelligence (AI)-based production platform to produce 6–8-inch gallium nitride on silicon (GaN-Si) epiwafer products used in power devices and 4–6 inch gallium nitride on silicon carbide (GaN-SiC) epiwafer products used in RF devices.
The latest funds were secured through new investments and are planned for use in expanding production capacity and developing the AI-based production platform. In particular, recent market circumstances (e.g. the application of GaN fast chargers in the IT products of Apple, Samsung, Huawei etc, and increasing use of GaN power devices in EV onboard chargers and power convertors) have been reflected in this funding round. IVWorks says that the latest fundraising demonstrates its interest in maintaining differentiated technology competencies and focusing on scaled growth in response to market demand. Furthermore, to proceed with listing on the KOSDAQ (Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) trading board of the Korea Exchange (KRX), IVWorks has entered into a contract with the Korea Investment & Securities listing underwriter and commenced a fully fledged initial public offering (IPO).
“Additional collaborations with global semiconductor companies and strategic investments are in progress,” notes says IVWorks’ CEO Young-Kyun Noh.
IVWorks and IntelliEPI partner on MBE-grown GaN epi
Korean GaN epi foundry IVWorks raises $6.7m in Series B funding
