Halo Industries raises $80m in Series B funding round

News: Suppliers Halo Industries Inc of Santa Clara, CA, USA has raised up to $80m in an over-subscribed Series B funding round led by Thomas Tull’s US Innovative Technology Fund (USIT) and joined by 8VC and SAIC. Spun out of Stanford University in 2014 following PhD research on ultra-thin manufacturing methods for next-generation silicon wafers for solar and semiconductor applications, Halo has developed proprietary laser-based tools and processing technologies that replace traditional mechanical and thermal processes with novel light-based equivalents that provide higher quality, lower cost and enhanced functionality. This is said to minimize the cost, waste and environmental impact associated with traditional manufacturing methods. Halo’s laser manufacturing technologies can be applied to a diverse set of use cases, having been demonstrated to work on materials including silicon, diamond, sapphire, lithium tantalate, and gallium nitride.In addition, due to the recent boom in the silicon carbide (SiC) market for highly efficient high-voltage power electronics in applications such as electric vehicles (EVs), charging infrastructure, rail, industrial motor drives, wind/solar and electric grid, Halo quickly adapted its process to the manufacturing of silicon carbide wafers. SiC is a hard, brittle material that is challenging to cut without losing meaningful amounts, and Halo’s proprietary laser-based slicing tools are claimed to significantly increase yield and quality while minimizing waste and production cost. The new funding will hence help the firm to scale the commercialization and reach of its technology for silicon carbide substrate production. “Amid the explosive growth in demand for next-generation power electronics with improved energy efficiency, our laser-based manufacturing tools and SiC production are critical components for maintaining momentum in clean tech development,” says founder & CEO Andrei Iancu. “This financing will serve as the foundation for our future strategic engagements where our innovations can reshape market economics as well as enable entirely new device architectures and functionalities,” he adds. “Halo Industries plays a pivotal role by offering tools that solve some of the biggest pain points in the industry,” comments USIT managing partner Peter Tague. “Halo Industries allows US companies to onshore manufacturing by competing on innovation, efficiency and cost, creating a durable advantage that is additive to recent industrial policies and eases supply chain challenges,” he adds. “We see a bright future for Halo Industries to foster innovation across industries and diverse applications, from renewable energy and electric vehicles to telecommunications, grid infrastructure, and defense customer bases.”SiC substrateswww.halo-industries.com