Aachen, Germany-based Black Semiconductor, a deep tech company, announced on Wednesday that it has secured €254.4M in a Series A funding round.
This marks one of the largest funding rounds ever for a chip manufacturing company in Europe.
The company has secured €228.7M in public funding from the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia over the next seven years under the IPCEI ME/CT2 program.
Alongside the public funding, the German company has secured an additional €25.7M in equity funding.
The round was led by Porsche Ventures and Project A Ventures, with participation from venture capital firms, corporates, and industry leaders, including Scania Growth Capital, Capnamic, Tech Vision Fonds, and NRW.BANK, joining the seed round investors Vsquared Ventures, Cambium Capital, and Hermann Hauser’s Onsight Ventures.
Fund utilisation
With the fresh capital, Black Semiconductor will accelerate its R&D initiatives and establish pilot line manufacturing capabilities in Aachen, Germany.
The company plans to inaugurate a pilot manufacturing facility in Aachen by 2026, which will demonstrate the seamless integration of graphene into electronic chips.
Additionally, Black Semiconductor aims to increase its headcount, planning to create 90 new high-tech positions, boosting its total workforce from 30 to 120 by 2026
Dr. Daniel Schall, co-founder and CEO of Black Semiconductor, says, “We highly value the strong support of the government and renowned investors to jointly advance the development of novel technologies in Europe. The investment enables us to drive our product development and 300 mm wafer pilot production facility forward at full speed. As traditional chip technology moves closer to its technological and economic limits, our innovation paves the way for faster, more powerful, cost-efficient, and energy-efficient computation.”
Black Semiconductor: Commercialising extremely powerful microchips
Founded in 2020 by Dr. Daniel Schall and Sebastian Schall, Black Semiconductor is a deep tech company developing a new generation of chip technology through graphene technology.
According to the company, these new chip networks will speed up data communication between chips for improved performance, energy efficiency, and a significant reduction in manufacturing costs through 60 per cent fewer production steps required.
Schall continues, “As part of the IPCEI program, we are committed to contributing to the semiconductor value chain in Europe. We believe that this investment, coupled with Europe’s ambitious push to increase funding for deep tech companies, will inspire even greater participation from startups and industry players.”
The investor
Porsche Ventures invests in specific areas of interest: Car & Mobility, Intelligent Enterprise, Sustainability, and Beyond.
Within these areas, Porsche Ventures has built a diverse portfolio of over 50 companies.
These companies cover a range of topics, including battery technology, energy transition, digital lifestyles, space-tech, enterprise AI, and other promising future technologies.
Patrick Huke, Partner and Head of Porsche Ventures says, “Our lead investment in Black Semiconductor together with Project A represents a great opportunity, harnessing photonics technology seamlessly integrated into conventional chips for a variety of industries, use cases, and future AI applications. Fueled by a combination of public and private investors, the Black Semiconductor team is now in a great position to build a strong semiconductor business within Europe, strengthening not only our domestic competitiveness but also the overall European chip ecosystem.”
Project A is an early-stage tech investor in Europe with offices in Berlin and London.
In addition to $1B assets under management, Project A exclusively supports the portfolio companies in key areas of growth, such as software and product development, business intelligence, marketing, sales, and recruiting.
The venture capital firm has backed more than 120 startups.
Uwe Horstmann, co-founder, and General Partner of Project A, says, “Europe needs to focus on achieving independence in key enabling technologies to ensure the continent’s autonomy and economic stability amid geopolitical challenges and supply chain issues. Semiconductors have been a much-neglected industry. Black Semiconductor, with its great founding team, exceptional technological know-how, and substantial funding, can bring back some of the much-needed technological sovereignty and become one of the key players in Europe.”
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