Cambridge-based Kubos Semiconductor, a microLED material technology company, announced on Tuesday, May 7 that it has secured $2M (approximately €1.8M) in funding, bringing the company’s total funding raised to $5.5M (approximately €5.1M).
The UK-based company has received support from three veterans of the compound semiconductor industry and three strategic investors — Martin Lamb, Drew Nelson, and Geoff Haynes.
The strategic investors include the Development Bank of Wales, FOV Ventures, and S4C Digital Media Limited.
Kubos Semiconductor will use the funds to accelerate the development of its cubic GaN technology which can double the efficiency of red microLEDs.
Fund utilisation
Additionally, the recent capital injection will enable the UK company to enter the microLED display market within three years through IP licensing.
According to analyst Spherical Insights and Consulting, the global market for microLED displays will grow from $1.35B in 2022 to $14.97B by 2032.
Kubos technology will enable clearer, brighter, more efficient displays to be manufactured for augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) applications.
Caroline O’Brien, CEO of Kubos comments, “Any UK compound semiconductor business would be thrilled to have just one of these movers and shakers in the industry supporting it and Kubos can now draw on the experience of all three. In addition, the strategic investor group that we have assembled brings vital insight into how the metaverse, digital content, and AR/VR products drive display and microLED requirements. This, coupled with our unrivalled experience in compound semiconductors means that Kubos is now fully equipped and ready to deliver.”
Kubos Semiconductor: Advancing next-gen illuminated devices
Led by Caroline O’Brien, Kubos is developing highly efficient LEDs using its proprietary Cubic GaN technology to improve the user experience for lighting, displays, and communications across the visible spectrum.
Utilising the cubic crystal phase of GaN, the company overcomes the limitations of conventional GaN LEDs, ultimately delivering significantly higher efficiency green, amber, and red devices.
The technology offers:
- Improved efficiency at longer wavelengths
- Fully compatible with standard industry manufacturing equipment and processes
- Scalable to large diameter, volume production
The LED stacks built on its technology can be easily integrated into the pre-existing commercial LED fabrication process, enabling increased efficiency of red and green LEDs at reduced cost.
According to the company’s claims, their LEDs have the potential to save up to 500M tonnes of CO2 emissions in lighting and a further 100M tonnes in displays over 5 years, if 100 per cent adoption is achieved. This reduction is equivalent to the annual carbon emissions produced by 150 coal-fired power stations.
The investors
Martin Lamb, former CEO of Wafer Technology and an angel investor with successful exits, helped form Kubos and has been its Chairman since its inception.
Drew Nelson OBE, President of IQE plc, a major compound semiconductor supplier, having founded and grown the business before stepping down as CEO in January 2022, has invested in Kubos and joined the board of directors.
Geoff Haynes also participated in this investment round and is a gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductor expert. A company he co-founded in 2008 to address the power semiconductors market, GaN Systems, was acquired by Infineon for $830M last year.
The Development Bank of Wales has a track record of supporting breakthrough technologies and compound semiconductor businesses.
Dr. Carl Griffiths, a fund manager in the Technology Venture Investments team at the Development Bank, says, “Kubos’ proprietary technology has the potential to improve the user experience for lighting and displays and accelerate the adoption of micro LEDs across a wide range of applications. We are proud to be working with this exciting company of highly acclaimed engineers and scientists, and to have helped them relocate to Wales to make use of the compound semiconductor expertise and infrastructure in the region.”
Read the orginal article: https://siliconcanals.com/news/startups/kubos-semiconductor-closes-1-8m/
