Cambridge GaN Devices has raised £6.8 million in Series A funding.
CGD was spun out of the engineering department of the University of Cambridge in 2016 to exploit a revolutionary technology in power devices.
The company’s core business is to design, develop and commercialise power transistors and integrated circuits based on the most energy-efficient material available, Gallium Nitride.
GaN power devices are significantly higher performing than state-of-the-art silicon-based devices, enabling significant reductions in the size and weight of power converters, whilst claiming to produce energy efficiencies higher than 99%.
CGD is developing a range of GaN transistors that are customised for key applications in market segments such as consumer and industrial Switch Mode Power Supply, lighting, data centres and automotive HEV/EV.
The company is the result of decades of research in power devices and GaN reliability carried out with world leading organisations in the field, and through several partnerships and collaborations. CGD is currently leading a $10m European-funded project with 13 industrial and academic partners across Europe, GaNext, developing GaN-based modules for low and high-power applications.
The investment was co-led by IQ Capital, Parkwalk Advisors and BGF, and includes investment from Foresight Williams, Cambridge Enterprise, Martlet Capital, Cambridge Angels and Cambridge Capital Group.
The funding will be used by CGD to expand its product portfolio of energy-efficient power devices and to double the size of its team.
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Giorgia Longobardi, CEO and founder of CGD, commented: “This latest round of investment is a great recognition of our success to date, with new and existing investors confirming the strength of our technology.
“Since 2016, CGD has grown significantly and we are thrilled to be in a position to deliver several products to market, following decades of industry-leading research in reliability of power devices.
“This investment will allow us to supplement our experienced team with additional experts and expand our markets globally, creating more sustainable electronics worldwide.”
Eric Stodel, CEO at Neways, a leading EMS System Innovator and Lifecycle Partner in the GaNext project, commented: “Our close collaboration with CGD has been an incredibly rewarding win-win experience.
“It enables us to develop an extremely compact solar inverter based on the GaN technology. The team’s enthusiasm is inspiring and contagious, and the shared expertise within our companies has been instrumental in making our combined project a great success with much more future potential.”