Nearfield Instruments announces Purchase Order from Manufacturing Fab in Asia

Nearfield Instruments Secures Purchase Order for its QUADRA Metrology System from Leading Semiconductor Manufacturing Fab in Asia

Rotterdam, 25-07-2024 – Nearfield Instruments, provider of metrology and process control equipment for advanced semiconductor fabrication plants, today announced the receipt of a purchase order for its QUADRA® metrology systems from a major semiconductor manufacturing fab in Asia.

QUADRA is the semiconductor industry’s highest-throughput atomic force microscopy (AFM) metrology system designed for in-line, on-device, non-destructive three-dimensional (3D) metrology. This system is essential for accelerating time to yield and optimizing high-volume manufacturing (HVM) yield for advanced semiconductor fabs.

The purchase order also includes Nearfield’s recently launched Lightning Mode™, a new feature for QUADRA that significantly boosts productivity and throughput, and Nearfield’s proprietary imaging algorithm and data analysis software to assist customers address the process challenges posed by shrinking geometries, complex 3D structuring, and advanced packaging for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM).

“We are delighted to receive this order from a world-leading advanced fab in Asia, which continues to ramp aggressively to meet the growing demand for advanced devices such as HBM that enable AI applications,” said Hamed Sadeghian, CEO of Nearfield Instruments. “We are proud that our process control solutions address the challenging requirements of semiconductor manufacturing of advanced devices as well as of future angstrom-level nodes. With our fast time-to-solution and non-destructive systems we are committed to contribute to greener semiconductor fabs.”

 

About Nearfield Instruments

Nearfield Instruments is bridging the semiconductor industry’s metrology and inspection challenges with in-line, non-destructive process control nanometrology solutions for advanced 3D memory and logic devices. Their groundbreaking technology combines high-resolution with high-throughput, essential for the production of advanced semiconductor nodes. Nearfield is headquartered in Rotterdam with offices in Eindhoven, The Netherlands and Pyeongtaek, South Korea.

For more information, visit www.nearfieldinstruments.com

Contacts

Hamed Sadeghian, President & CEO

Mark Lamers, CFO

Roland van Vliet, Chief Partnership Officer

Tel. +31-10-2233610

 

 

Nearfield Instruments secures €135 million in landmark deep-tech funding round

Nearfield Instruments secures €135 million in landmark deep-tech funding round

ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands, July 18, 2024 – Nearfield Instruments, the developer of state-of-the art Metrology & Inspection (M&I) solutions for the semiconductor manufacturing industry, today announced the successful closure of a €135 million Series-C funding round. The oversubscribed funding round is led by two new major investors, Walden Catalyst, an industry leading US venture capital firm helping the next generation of category-defining businesses in deep-tech, and Temasek, a global investor that also looks into opportunities in emerging technologies to solve complex and high impact challenges, and address market inflections. M&G Investments, a leading global asset manager, through its Catalyst strategy, is acting as a co-investor. The success of this round is further underscored by the participation of existing investors Innovation Industries, Invest-NL, and ING.

The growing complexities in advanced semiconductor manufacturing, driven by the surge in demand for higher performing and lower energy consuming chips, are addressed by Nearfield’s innovative process control solutions. These include the QUADRA 3D metrology system that provides non-destructive, high-throughput, and high-resolution metrology capabilities. Nearfield is deeply engaged with most major chip manufacturers globally, and QUADRA is fully validated and deployed in high-volume manufacturing.

Dr. Hamed Sadeghian, Co-Founder and CEO of Nearfield Instruments: “We are thrilled that Nearfield’s’ QUADRA 3D metrology system has been fully integrated into the first major high-volume semiconductor manufacturing fab. This milestone solidifies our pioneering role in advancing critical metrology for leading-edge nodes. With significant contributions from investment leaders, we are well positioned to meet the growing demand for Metrology & Inspection in the coming decade. This funding will enable us to ramp up production capacity, expand our product portfolio, and strengthen our position as a key player in the semiconductor equipment industry.”

The funding round is the second largest capital raise in the semiconductor fabrication equipment market in Europe and the US in the past 5 years, according to Mergermarket.

Young Sohn, Founding Managing Partner at Walden Catalyst: “Advanced semiconductors are the key pillars for global innovation and growth. The next generation of semiconductors will be driven by Advanced Lithography and 3D Integration, with smaller features, deeper trenches, and tighter tolerances. The high-volume manufacturing of these next gen devices requires new process control tools to enable higher yield and throughput, and Nearfield’s metrology solutions are critical for solving these process control challenges. We are excited to partner with Hamed and his world-class team to further accelerate Nearfield’s growth.”

As a Netherlands-based scale-up, Nearfield is embedded in the strong Dutch ecosystem of semiconductor innovation and investments, an industry that is expected to reach USD 1 trillion in global revenue by 2029. The funding round is the largest deep-tech investment round in the Netherlands and is yet another testimony of the country’s leading position in semiconductors globally.

Eric Meurice, Chairman of the Nearfield Instruments Supervisory Board: “This fantastic outcome enables us to accelerate Nearfield’s efforts to provide unique solutions to meet the industry’s metrology and inspection needs for the most advanced nodes. Providing process control and yield improvement is critical in this global industry. It is great to see the continued support of our shareholders combined with the onboarding of new industry-leading investors who will reinforce our global view and network and cement the company’s position as the leader in Metrology & Inspection.”

About Nearfield Instruments

Nearfield Instruments, a Netherlands based spin-off of Dutch research institute TNO, is bridging the semiconductor industry’s metrology and inspection challenges with in-line, non-destructive process control nanometrology solutions for advanced 3D memory and logic devices. Their groundbreaking technology combines high-resolution with high-throughput, essential for the production of advanced semiconductor nodes. Nearfield is headquartered in Rotterdam with offices in Eindhoven, The Netherlands and Pyeongtaek, South Korea.

For more information, visit www.nearfieldinstruments.com.

About Walden Catalyst Ventures 

Walden Catalyst is a venture capital firm helping early-stage companies in the U.S., Europe, and Israel build the next generation of category-defining businesses in deep-tech. The firm is led by Young Sohn and Lip-Bu Tan, deep-tech industry pioneers who between them have invested in more than 600 startups across the globe, of which 138 have gone on to IPO. Walden Catalyst is focused on deep- tech investments and their team of innovators and entrepreneurs are passionate about disruptive technologies and committed to excellence. This translates into unparalleled access to operational expertise, global reach, and a network of industry captains eager to help build and scale the companies of the future.
Visit us at www.waldencatalyst.com or follow @Walden Catalyst Ventures

About Temasek

Temasek is a global investment company headquartered in Singapore, with a net portfolio value of S$389 billion (€267b) as of 31 March 2024. Temasek’s Purpose “So Every Generation Prospers” guides it to make a difference for today’s and future generations. Operating on commercial principles, it seeks to deliver sustainable returns over the long term. Temasek has 13 offices in 9 countries around the world: Beijing, Hanoi, Mumbai, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Singapore in Asia; and Brussels, London, Mexico City, New York, Paris, San Francisco, and Washington, DC outside Asia.

For more information, visit https://www.temasek.com.sg

About M&G

M&G Investments is part of M&G plc, a savings and investment business, which listed as an independent company on the London Stock Exchange in October 2019. It has €396 billion of assets under management (as of 31 December 2023) and customers in the UK, Europe, the Americas and Asia. M&G has a rich heritage of investing in private markets through a range of strategies in its €84 billion Private Markets business. It launched Catalyst in 2021 a multi-billion purpose-led flexible private markets strategy which invests in innovative solutions to some of the world’s biggest environmental and social challenges on behalf of M&G’s Life business and its 4.7 million customers.

Media contact: Stefan Simons (media contact) Email: stefan.simons@cffcommunications.nl Tel: +31(0)6 20300796

Nearfield Instruments haalt €135 miljoen op in grootste Nederlandse deep-tech financieringsronde ooit

Nearfield Instruments haalt €135 miljoen op in grootste Nederlandse deep-tech financieringsronde ooit

ROTTERDAM, Nederland, 18 juli 2024 – Nearfield Instruments, ontwikkelaar en producent van Metrologie & Inspectie-apparatuur voor de wereldwijde halfgeleiderindustrie, heeft met succes een Series-C financieringsronde van €135 miljoen afgesloten. Deze overtekende financieringsronde wordt geleid door twee internationale tech-investeerders, Walden Catalyst, een toonaangevende Amerikaanse tech-investeerder die disruptieve bedrijven in deep-tech ondersteunt en Temasek, een wereldwijde investeerder in opkomende technologieën die impact-innovaties mogelijk maken en inspelen op nieuwe marktontwikkelingen. M&G Investments, een van de grootste wereldwijde vermogensbeheerders, treedt via zijn Catalyst Fonds op als co-investeerder. Het succes van deze ronde wordt verder onderstreept door de deelname van huidige Nederlandse investeerders zoals Innovation Industries, Invest-NL en ING. De Nederlandse steun is breed gedragen, daar pensioenfondsen PME en PMT, via de fondsen van Innovation Industries en het Strategic Partners Fund, Nearfield Instruments vanaf de start hebben gesteund.

Nearfield Instruments voorziet met zijn innovatieve oplossingen in de groeiende vraag naar steeds geavanceerdere procesbeheersing in de productie van de nieuwste generaties chips. De complexiteit van deze computerchips neemt sterk toe, vooral gedreven door AI-toepassingen. De chipmarkt bereikt naar verwachting in 2029 een wereldwijde omvang van $1 biljoen. Nearfield’s QUADRA 3D metrologiesysteem biedt snelle, nauwkeurige en niet-destructieve metingen en speelt daarmeer een belangrijke rol bij het maken van deze complexe halfgeleiders. Nearfield werkt nauw samen met grote halfgeleiderfabrikanten wereldwijd, waarbij het QUADRA 3D procescontrolesysteem reeds is gevalideerd en wordt ingezet bij grootschalige chipproductie.

Dr. Hamed Sadeghian, medeoprichter en CEO van Nearfield Instruments: “We zijn trots dat ons QUADRA 3D metrologiesysteem volledig gevalideerd is en toegepast wordt in hoogvolume productieomgevingen. Met deze mijlpaal verstevigen we onze positie in procescontrole-oplossingen voor de geavanceerde chipproductie. Met de steun van deze leidende tech-investeerders zijn we goed gepositioneerd om te voorzien in de groeiende vraag naar geavanceerde en toekomstbestendige Metrologie & Inspectie-oplossingen. Deze financiering stelt ons in staat om productiecapaciteit op te schalen, ons productportfolio uit te breiden en onze sleutelpositie in de halfgeleiderapparatuur-sector verder te versterken.”

De financieringsronde is volgens Mergermarket de op een na grootste financieringsronde in de markt voor halfgeleiderfabricage-apparatuur in Europa en de VS in de afgelopen vijf jaar.

Young Sohn, Founding Managing Partner bij Walden Catalyst: “Geavanceerde halfgeleiders zijn de sleutel voor wereldwijde innovatie en groei. De volgende generatie halfgeleiders zal worden mogelijk gemaakt door geavanceerde lithografie en 3D-integratie, met kleinere en diepere structuren en kleinere maaktoleranties. De grootschalige productie van deze volgende generatie chips vereist nieuwe procescontrole-oplossingen om een hogere opbrengst en productie mogelijk te maken. De metrologieproducten van Nearfield zijn cruciaal voor het oplossen van deze uitdagingen in de procescontrole. We zijn enthousiast over de samenwerking met Hamed en zijn uitmuntende team om de groei van Nearfield verder vorm te geven en te versnellen.”

Nearfield, een spin-off van TNO, maakt deel uit van een sterk Nederlands ecosysteem van innovatie en investeringen in halfgeleidertechnologie. Deze grootste deep-tech investeringsronde in Nederland1)  bevestigt de leidende positie van Nederland in de wereldwijde halfgeleidersector.

Eric Meurice, voorzitter van de raad van commissarissen van Nearfield Instruments: “Dit geweldige resultaat stelt Nearfield in staat de ontwikkeling en productie te versnellen om unieke oplossingen te bieden die voldoen aan huidige en toekomstige metrologie- en inspectiebehoeften van de industrie voor de meest geavanceerde chips. Het bieden van procescontrole en opbrengstverbetering is cruciaal in deze sector. De steun van onze aandeelhouders, gecombineerd met de komst van nieuwe toonaangevende investeerders, verstevigt de positie van Nearfield als leider in Metrologie & Inspectie en draagt bij aan het vergroten van haar internationale slagkracht.”

Over Nearfield Instruments

Nearfield Instruments ontwikkelt en levert baanbrekende meetoplossingen die in staat zijn kritieke 3D-nanostructuren te meten tijdens het fabricageproces van microchips. Het meten van deze structuren is essentieel om goed-werkende chips te kunnen maken. De door Nearfield Instruments ontwikkelde technologie is gebaseerd op de zogenaamde Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), die het oppervlak van chips driedimensionaal scant met een atomair scherpe “naald”. Nearfield Instruments heeft AFM verbeterd en verfijnd om significante meetsnelheden te bereiken en de complexe 3D-chipstructuren op niet-destructieve wijze te meten op nanoschaal. Nearfield Instruments is gevestigd in Rotterdam, met kantoren in Eindhoven en Pyeongtaek, Zuid-Korea.

Ga voor meer informatie naar www.nearfieldinstruments.com.

 

Mediacontact: Stefan Simons (mediacontact) E-mail: stefan.simons@cffcommunications.nl

Tel: +31(0)6 20300796

 

Note 1) Bron MT/Sprout vanaf 2014

Nearfield Instruments selected for EIC Accelerator funding

Nearfield Instruments is proud to announce that it has been awarded the highly competed EIC Accelerator funding. 

The companies were selected in a highly competitive process. From a total of 969 companies that submitted a full proposal, 347 companies were interviewed by juries of experienced investors and entrepreneurs. The jury then selected the 68 best deep tech companies to receive funding.

Nearfield Instruments welcomes the support of EIC to enable further expansion of our semiconductor metrology & inspection product portfolio, serving our customers worldwide.

 

Find here more information about this round’s EIC Accelerator selection: 

https://eic.ec.europa.eu/news/eic-accelerator-68-deep-tech-start-ups-latest-funding-round-2024-07-15_en

 

Nearfield Instruments’ QUADRA® In-Line Semiconductor Metrology System Features New ‘Lightning Mode™’

Today at Semicon West, Nearfield Instruments launched Lightning Mode™, a new feature for QUADRA®, the semiconductor industry’s highest-throughput, in-line atomic force microscopy (AFM) metrology system for advanced semiconductor devices.

QUADRA, combined with the new Lightning Mode, boosts productivity with a more than 160-fold increase in image acquisition speed when benchmarked against existing state-of-the-art automated AFM systems. The extremely high throughput of QUADRA, along with its superior accuracy, enables customers non-destructively to determine lot-to-lot, wafer-to-wafer and intra-wafer process variations in full 3D with very high wafer and lot coverage.

QUADRA, with its groundbreaking multi-miniaturized AFM head architecture, enables on-device, non-destructive three-dimensional (3D) metrology and is now fully qualified and deployed for high-volume manufacturing (HVM) at the industry’s leading fabs. QUADRA accelerates time-to-yield and HVM yield optimization and control in memory (VNAND, DRAM, HBM) and logic processes, including high-aspect-ratio structures and (high-NA) EUV resist structures as well as hybrid bonding applications.

“Hybrid bonding is a critical technology to support the future demands for computational power, which is driving more chip stacking and increased data transmission; more efficient energy consumption in multi-chip systems is a key. Hybrid bonding plays a crucial role in artificial intelligence (AI) chip systems, both in 3D packaging and new-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM) manufacturing. However, it comes with additional complexity to 3D packaging and chiplets, increasing the importance of angstrom-level, non-destructive metrology with the capability of not only die-to-die, but also pad-to-pad metrology, which has historically demonstrated limited throughput over the more conventional techniques like AFM,” said Hamed Sadeghian, CEO, Nearfield Instruments.

“QUADRA is transforming semiconductor production metrology, and especially now with our new Lightning Mode – the only metrology system capable of providing highly accurate, in-line, non-destructive 3D measurements with extremely high throughput on advanced technology nodes. It is validated and qualified for all device and package types in the fab. QUADRA, especially with its new Lightning Mode that provides the fastest imaging speed of any in-line AFM metrology system in the world, supporting massive metrology needs.”

QUADRA is available for ordering now and the Lightning Mode feature will be available in August 2024.

 

Nearfield Instruments at Semicon West (Preview interview with Silicon Semiconductor)

Also this year Nearfield Instruments will be present at Semicon West in San Francisco (July 9-11, 2024) to engage with our worldwide customers and partners and to further strengthen our cooperations within the semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem.

Ahead of the show co-founder and CEO Hamed Sadeghian was interviewed by Phil Alsop, Editor of Silicon Semiconductor, to discus the ways in which Nearfield Instruments is helping the semiconductor manufacturs to address the challenges and opportunities of the semiconductor industry and to share his expectations ahead of the SEMICON West event, and also hints at what technology innovation we will see in the second half of the year.

Please use the link below to go directly to the interview:

https://siliconsemiconductor.net/video/499/SEMICON_WEST_PREVIEW_-_NEARFIELD_INSTRUMENTS

Nearfield Instruments is looking forward to meet with you at Semicon West. Please contact:

Roland van Vliet, Chief Partnership Officer – roland.vanvliet@nearfieldinstruments.com

Lucy Patterzon, PA – lucy.patterzon@nearfieldinstruments.com

Nearfield Instruments among Top-250 most innovative and fastest growing companies in The Netherlands

We at Nearfield Instruments are proud to be featured in the Top 250 2024 by Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship! 🎉

The Top 250 report highlights the 250 most innovative and fastest-growing companies in the Netherlands, giving insights into the current state of the Dutch economy.

Congrats to the other featured companies and a big thank you to Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship through the support of nlgroeit, Municipality of Rotterdam, HelloPrint, and Dealroom in creating this year’s special Top 250 insights. 🚀

Read the full report here: http://ece.nl/en/top-250

Nearfield Instruments appoints Mark Lamers RC (41) as CFO

Mark Lamers has been appointed as new CFO of Nearfield Instruments, effective as per 1 April 2024. Prior to joining Nearfield, Mark was CFO at BUX. Before that, Mark held several positions at ABN AMRO where he worked for 14 years as investment banker in the areas of Mergers & Acquisitions and Equity Capital Markets in which he was involved in many equity capital market transactions including, IPOs, share issues and buybacks (including ASML).

‘I am thrilled to be entering the dynamic semiconductor sector, as part of this fantastic company. I very much look forward to contributing to help grow Nearfield Instruments to becoming the global leader in Metrology & Inspection (‘M&I’) equipment. I do believe that the semiconductor industry may be the sector that has the biggest impact on people’s life, not only technically but also from a geopolitical perspective. In an industry that is facing its physical boundaries, conventional M&I equipment no longer suffices. I am convinced that Nearfield Instruments’ high-end systems provide the solution for this new era in which advanced lithography will become the standard.’

Hamed Sadegian (CEO): ‘We are pleased to have Mark onboard, as he brings significant experience from both a Corporate as well as a scale-up perspective. He has a broad background in economics and banking that will help us grow and professionalise the Company building on the strong foundation of what we started in 2016.’

Nearfield Instruments on 2023 MT/Sprout Challenger50 list

We are proud to announce that Nearfield Instruments has been named as one of the fifty most challenging, innovative and fast-growing companies in the Netherlands. According to the judges of the MT/Sprout Challenger50 the companies on the list show show the established order how things can be done differently, better, faster, cheaper and more sustainable.

Sounds like our kind of innovation! Creating a better world, atom by atom!

For the full list and more information see the publication by MT/Sprout (in Dutch): https://mtsprout.nl/ranking/challenger50-van-2023