Syenta secures $8.8 million pre-Series A for AI chip packaging breakthrough
Syenta secures $8.8 million pre-Series A for AI chip packaging breakthrough
ANU spin-out Syenta, a semiconductor technology startup developing a new way to print chips for artificial intelligence, has raised $8.8 million in pre-Series A funding. The round was led by Investible, with participation from existing backers Blackbird Ventures, Jelix Ventures and Brindabella Capital, alongside new investors In-Q-Tel, SGInnovate, OIF, Salus and Wollemi Capital Group.
Syenta is building Localized Electrochemical Manufacturing (LEM) — a lithography-free process that enables scalable, high-density interconnects for advanced chip packaging. The five-year-old deep tech venture previously closed a Blackbird-led $3.7 million Seed round in 2022 as it emerged from stealth to develop multi-material 3D printers. This new capital will drive commercialization of a chip-packaging breakthrough that could unlock the next generation of AI and high-performance computing.
Cofounder and CEO Dr Jekaterina Viktorova said LEM enables micron-scale resolution in advanced semiconductor packaging. This new way of building the physical connections inside chips allows manufacturers to create much denser and more precise wiring, so memory and processors can sit closer together and exchange data much faster and more efficiently.
“LEM is the foundation for a new generation of chip packaging,” she said.
“It offers the scale, performance and manufacturability needed to overcome the critical ‘memory wall’ throttling AI systems today.”
Last year the company was selected for ASTRA, the flagship accelerator by Applied Materials, the world’s largest semiconductor company.
“It puts us shoulder-to-shoulder with the industry’s most disruptive innovators and gives us direct access to leaders in the electroplating world, global foundries, OSATs and materials giants,” Viktorova said. “It validates LEM as a serious platform for global semiconductor manufacturing.”
Investible lead investor Nicholas Ooi said: “Syenta is a key technology enabler for the next generation of AI infrastructure and high-performance computing HPC chips, particularly as semiconductor chip fabrication levels are unable to keep up with current demand for generative AI infrastructure.”
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About Syenta
Syenta is a semiconductor manufacturing startup focused on breaking the AI “memory wall” by enabling ultra-high-bandwidth chip-to-chip connections. Its core process, Localized Electrochemical Manufacturing (LEM), merges metal deposition and patterning into a single step using a patterned stamp electrode, producing precise, sub-micron interconnects on large-format packages with throughput claimed at three times current fabs.
The technology scales along three axes: scaling down to ~1/1 µm redistribution layers, scaling out to 510/600-mm panels with 100–200-mm fields, and scaling up for high-volume production.
Syenta’s leadership includes CEO and co-founder Dr Jekaterina Viktorova, CTO Ben Wilkinson, CSO Professor Luke Connal, COO Zachary Dowse, CIO John McClure, and VP Engineering John Ghekiere, supported by Head of Business Development Sebastiaan Muller. Investors and partners highlighted on the site include Investible, Blackbird, Jelix Ventures, Brindabella, In-Q-Tel, SGInnovate, ANU and ANFF, with additional collaboration through Applied Materials’ ASTRA program and an “Achyon” advanced-packaging tool roadmap in development.
Featured image source: The Independent
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