RF Nano raises $8 million
RF Nano has raised $8 million in Series B venture capital to further develop its carbon nanotube analog electronics technology. Oxantium Ventures joined RF Nano's series A lead investor Okapi Ventures in the funding round.
The start-up's technology is based on research by Professor Peter Burke at the University of California, Irvine. The company is developing CMOS compatible discrete, wafer and integrated circuit products that take advantage of the electronic properties of carbon nanotubes. It says that its devices will 'revolutionise radio frequency, analog, and mixed signal electronics.'
RF Nano claims that its carbon nanotube devices have power densities 100 times greater than silicon and 20 times greater than gallium arsenide, plus intrinsic cutoff frequencies in the terahertz range. The company has already developed manufacturing processes and says its carbon nanotubes are inexpensive to grow. It won a United States Air Force Small Business Innovation Research grant to develop an 'integrated nanotube system' for use in radio applications earlier this year.
Commenting on the latest funding round, Steffen McKernan, ceo and co-founder of RF Nano said: "We are very pleased that Dr. Richard Wirt and Oxantium are joining RF Nano. Even before closing this financing, the Oxantium team has added significant value to our business. Their deepening engagement will accelerate delivery of our products and help us drive the creation of a future of analog and mixed-signal systems uniquely enabled by RF Nano's technology."
Oxantium's Richard Wirt predicted: "RF Nano's technology will enable a new generation of robust, high bandwidth wireless devices. As RF Nano harnesses the fundamental promise of carbon nanotubes, the semiconductor world will be forever changed."
