Nearfield Instruments, a well-established firm specializing in Metrology & Inspection (M&I) technology, is a major win for the Semiconductor industry. The firm has secured €135 million for its Series C funding round. This investment was made on the 18th of July of 2024 and is one of the largest deep tech funding rounds in The Netherlands proving the country’s importance in the global semiconductor industry.
Image Source: Globe News Wire
Oversubscribed Funding Round
The oversubscribed funding round was led by two new major investors Catalyst, one of the most famous venture capital firms from the United States focusing on deep tech investment, and Temasek, a global investor interested in emerging technologies. As a co-investor, M&G Investments also invested by subscribing to the Catalyst strategy. Nearfield’s existing investors, Innovation Industries, Invest-NL, and ING also joined the round indicating that they believe in Nearfield’s approach. As Nearfield Instruments enters this new period of development, the company’s technologies will make important contributions to the semiconductor future while addressing the multifaceted issues of chip design and production.
Image Source: Nearfield Instruments
Nearfield’s Technological Edge
Nearfield Instruments occupies a special place in the global semiconductor market due to providing the latest metrology tools. The company’s QUADRA 3D metrology system is its leading product, which allows non-destructive and fast, with high-resolution measurements. This system is necessary for next-generation semiconductor applications that require new levels of sophistication and density and low power consumption.
Nearfield Instruments Co-Founder and CEO, Dr. Hamed Sadeghian also echoed similar sentiments over the success of the funding round. Dr. Hamed Sadeghian said, “We are thrilled that Nearfield’s’ QUADRA 3D metrology system has been fully integrated into the first major high-volume semiconductor manufacturing fab. This milestone solidifies our pioneering role in advancing critical metrology for leading-edge nodes. With significant contributions from investment leaders, we are well-positioned to meet the growing demand for Metrology & Inspection in the coming decade. This funding will enable us to ramp up production capacity, expand our product portfolio, and strengthen our position as a key player in the semiconductor equipment industry.”
Industry Challenges
The semiconductor industry is at an important stage at the moment due to the high demand for increased density of features, depth of trenches, and sub-micron features. As these challenges are, Nearfield’s metrology solutions are designed to address them and achieve higher yield and throughput in the high-volume manufacturing environment. This highlights the importance of the QUADRA system in process control, as the software has been deployed in large semiconductor fabs around the world.
According to Young Sohn, the Founding Managing Partner at Walden Catalyst, Nearfield’s technology was crucial to the development of the products. Young Sohn said, “Advanced semiconductors are the key pillars for global innovation and growth. The next generation of semiconductors will be driven by Advanced Lithography and 3D Integration, with smaller features, deeper trenches, and tighter tolerances. The high-volume manufacturing of these next-gen devices requires new process control tools to enable higher yield and throughput, and Nearfield’s metrology solutions are critical for solving these process control challenges. We are excited to partner with Hamed and his world-class team to further accelerate Nearfield’s growth.”
Growth Strategy and Future Prospects
The new funding suggests that Nearfield Instruments is ready to increase production capabilities, develop new products, and increase market share. The firm intends to apply the capital to advance the implementation of its metrology solutions to meet the growing needs of top semiconductor firms.
The success of this funding round also corroborates the general move toward massive investments in the semiconductor sector. A world where everything is increasingly dependent on superior technologies, the need for efficient semiconductors remains high. Nearfield’s solutions that have been developed are to be a perfect fit in this changing environment.
The Chairman of the Nearfield Instruments Supervisory Board, Eric Meurice said, “This fantastic outcome enables us to accelerate Nearfield’s efforts to provide unique solutions to meet the industry’s metrology and inspection needs for the most advanced nodes. Providing process control and yield improvement is critical in this global industry. It is great to see the continued support of our shareholders combined with the onboarding of new industry-leading investors who will reinforce our global view and network and cement the company’s position as the leader in Metrology & Inspection.”
Conclusion
Nearfield Instruments recently landed €135 million in Series C funding, a big achievement for the company and the semiconductors in general. Through raising significant investment from some of the world’s most prominent investors, Nearfield is now poised to grow at an even more rapid pace and to persist with its innovation in the field of metrology and inspection. This record investment demonstrates its technological leadership and emphasizes the significance of enhanced metrology in the industry’s evolution.
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