Inpria, a US-based semiconductor manufacturing technology spinout of Oregon State University (OSU), received $31m yesterday in a series C round led by petrochemical materials provider JSR Corporation.
Memory semiconductor provider SK Hynix also took part, as did TSMC Partners, Intel Capital, Aliad, Applied Ventures and Samsung Venture Investment: vehicles for chipmakers TSMC and Intel, industrial gases supplier Air Liquide, semiconductor manufacturing technology provider Applied Materials and electronics producer Samsung.
Founded in 2007, Inpria produces a range of metal oxide photoresists – light-sensitive materials – for extreme ultraviolet lithography, a semiconductor manufacturing process that relies on a narrow wavelength of ultraviolet light to form patterns on photoresists at a high resolution.
Photoresists are an integral part of building integrated circuits and Inpria’s technology simplifies the manufacturing process while reducing the costs of computer chips.
Mark Slezak, president of JSR Corporation’s US subsidiary, JSR Micro, has joined Inpria’s board of directors in connection with the round, which brought the company’s total funding to more than $76m.
Samsung subsidiary Samsung Ventures led a $23.5m series B round for Inpria in 2017, investing with JSR Corporation, Aliad, Applied Ventures and Intel Capital.
The company had previously raised $10m in a 2016 series A round led by Air Liquide and backed by Samsung Venture Investment, Intel Capital and photolithography technology manufacturer Tokyo Ohka Kogyo.
Intel Capital, Samsung Ventures and existing backer Applied Ventures had already taken part in a $7.3m round for Inpria in 2014 with Oregon Angel Fund. The company had secured $160,000 in 2010 according to a regulatory filing.
The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.
