Ziptronix, Inc., Secures $6.5 Million in First-Round FinancingNew wafer bonding process combines multiple chips into one.
Contacts:C. William Clark, [email protected], 919-541-6000
Robert Markunas, [email protected], 919-541-6153
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. -- October 27, 2000-- Ziptronix, Inc., an innovator in wafer-scale semiconductor integration, announced today it has raised $6.5 million in its first round of venture capital financing.
The company is a spin-off of Research Triangle Institute. It is based on a new technology to integrate semiconductors of many types, materials, and functions within existing semiconductor wafer fabrication processes. With Ziptronix, electronics firms can achieve high levels of circuit integration at low power, high speeds, and low cost.
Atlanta-based Alliance Technology Ventures is the lead investor in this initial financing round. Mike Slawson, General Partner at Alliance Technology Ventures led the investment team.
"The business implications of the process are enormous," according to Bob Markunas, VP of Marketing for Ziptronix. "We can integrate fiber optics directly with digital signal processors on one chip. We can integrate gallium arsenide power amplifiers with silicon processors in a single chip package. This technology makes single chip cell phones, computers, and PDAs possible."
The company plans to license the technology to large semiconductor firms, to produce integrated parts for electronic firms, and eventually to produce standard parts employing the Ziptronix technology. Initially the company will co-develop parts for large semiconductor firms.
According to Ziptronix CEO Bill Clark, "We offer the electronics industry the ability to integrate multiple semiconductor wafers without individually packaging the chips first. Two proprietary Ziptronix technologies form the basis for the breakthrough process: room temperature wafer bonding and backside processing. These technologies were invented by RTI researchers and the associated patents and applications have been assigned to Ziptronix by RTI."
Paul Enquist, Ziptronix VP of Research & Development, explains that, "the Ziptronix process starts with a 'host wafer' containing many chips. Then, other wafers or individual chips are bonded to the host at room temperature. The substrate from the second wafer or individual chips is then removed, leaving only a few microns containing the active electronics. Electrical interconnects are then made between the host and the bonded wafer or die using a standard via-based interconnect process identical to that used in semiconductor fabrication facilities to electrically interconnect different layers of a single wafer. The process can be repeated multiple times. The end result is an integration of what is currently many chips into a single chip."
Ziptronix consists of nine founders led by CEO Bill Clark, VP of Marketing Bob Markunas and VP of Research and Development Paul Enquist. The new company is part of RTI's aggressive technology commercialization initiative.
RTI is an independent organization dedicated to innovative, multidisciplinary research that improves the human condition. With a worldwide staff of more than 1,800 people, RTI is active in health and medicine, environmental protection, technology commercialization, education, and decision support systems. Universities in North Carolina founded RTI in 1958 as the first scientific organization in and centerpiece of the Research Triangle Park. www.rti.org.
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