France-based metallisation technology developer Aveni closed a $10.5m series B round on Tuesday featuring pharmaceuticals and chemicals producer Merck Group, industrial gases provider Air Liquide Group and electronics manufacturers Samsung and Panasonic.
Merck, Air Liquide and Samsung invested through their respective corporate venturing units, Merck Ventures, Aliad and Samsung Venture Investment Corporation. Idinvest Partners, Auriga Partners, Supernova and undisclosed other investors also contributed to the round.
Aveni has developed metallisation technology for use in the semiconductor and electronics industries. Its chemistries and processes can be used to produce semiconductors at a smaller scale, improving performance and yield.
The company secured $13.5m in funding in 2015 from Panasonic, Aliad, Idinvest Partners, Auriga Partners and CEA Investissement, the investment arm of research organisation CEA, as well as unnamed additional investors.
CEA, asset manager Rothschild Gestion, SPEF Ventures and AGF Investments, a subsidiary of insurer Allianz, had previously supplied $12m for Aveni in 2014.
Aveni received an undisclosed amount from Panasonic in 2010, having raised $10m from AGF, Emertec Gestion and CEA the year before.
Bruno Morel, CEO of Aveni, said: “Aveni technology offers high yield and unrivalled economics, not only for existing semiconductor production nodes, but also for future technology nodes.
“Additionally, Aveni is in the process of developing game-changing solutions for other semiconductor and electronics markets.”