We first wrote about Semprius Inc. back in 2007 when the company raised $4.1 million in Series A funding. Back then the company was busy working on its micro-transfer printing technology which allows the company to transfer transistors from a traditional substrate onto other surfaces such as glass or plastic. Back then we wondered, given all the commercialization options, which avenue Semprius would pursue and how successful it would be. Well, the last couple of years have shed some light on the company’s prospects. Semprius chose to initially focus on the production of low cost, high performance solar modules, in particular concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) modules for large-scale solar power generation. This move was first rewarded by a successful Series B round of funding in the middle of last year, which netted the company a nice $6.4 million. During the investment round the existing investors were joined by In-Q-Tel and the GVC Investment Fund. Then, an additional bonus followed later that year, when John A. Rogers who is one of the three original Semprius founders, received the MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Grant in the amount of $500,000. Finally, the company also appeared on the EETimes Silicon 60 List towards the end of the year.
2010 has barely started, and the company is once again collecting some funding. This time around, Semprius received a $1.5 million investment from X-FAB, a pure-play analog/mixed-signal semiconductor foundry based out of Erfurt, Germany, as part of a strategic development agreement. With this agreement, X-FAB will become the designated foundry for Semprius technology. This latest investment shows a couple things: First, the company is active on multiple fronts. While the solar applications are moving full steam ahead, the company is also actively marketing its technology for other applications. Second, X-FAB clearly believes that Semprius’ technology will be quite relevant in the field of printed electronics over the near term, and as such wanted to lock in potential customers which are likely to take advantage of it for its foundry business. Overall, Semprius has now received close to $12.5 million in funding and with the recent developments and positive press coverage things seem to be looking up for the company at the moment.
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@icdboss noted, hopefully they will have a better experience dealing with Samsung locally, given the company's large presence in Austin