LIDROTEC lands $13.5M to tackle semiconductor yield bottlenecks

German deeptech startup LIDROTEC, pioneering next-generation laser systems for low-damage, high-precision chip cutting, has closed a $13.5 million Series A-2 financing round. 

With the semiconductor sector's increasing focus on throughput and yield, LIDROTEC’s solution comes at a crucial time for the industry.

LIDROTEC’s proprietary laser systems combine high-precision cutting with fluid-based cooling and cleaning, reducing material damage, heat-affected zone width, and particle defects in grooving and dicing processes. This results in dramatically lower breakage rates and higher yields, particularly for difficult-to-dice hard materials and thin semiconductors. 

The investment will enable LIDROTEC to accelerate product development and commercialisation, grow its team, and deliver its novel liquid-mediated laser dicing solutions to both the compound semiconductor and leading-edge semiconductor markets.  

“This funding is a major validation of our technology, team, and vision,” said Alexander  Igelmann, Co-Founder and CEO of LIDROTEC.

“The support from both leading financial  and strategic partners gives us the firepower to scale globally and help address the pressing inefficiencies in chip production.” 

Lam Capital, the corporate venture arm of semiconductor fabrication equipment and services company Lam Research Corporation, and Goose Capital co-led the round, which included ZEISS Ventures, NRW.BANK and existing investors, Goose Capital, Gründerfonds Ruhr and others contributed well above their pro rata.  

“LIDROTEC’s novel approach to chip singulation has the potential to deliver significant yield improvements to companies in the power device, photonics, and semiconductor sectors. We are looking forward to seeing their capabilities commercialised,” said Kevin Chen, managing director of Lam Capital and corporate development at Lam Research. 

LIDROTEC also recently appointed Ben  Haskell, investment director at Lam Capital, to its board of directors. 

“We’ve backed LIDROTEC since their first round and have only grown more confident in their potential to become a core enabler in semiconductor manufacturing,” said Ashok  Rao, Board Member at Goose Capital.

“This team is solving a deeply technical problem  with global relevance, and we’re proud to double down as they enter their next stage of growth.”