Samsung
Canvas Category OEM : Computer and Electronic
Samsung Electronics constantly reinvents the future. We explore the unknown to discover technologies to help people all over the world lead happier, healthier lives.
Assembly Line
Princeton NuEnergy Closes $30 Million Oversubscribed Series A Funding
Princeton NuEnergy (PNE), a leader in lithium-ion battery direct recycling furthering America’s circular economy, closed a Series A funding round with a strategic investment from Samsung Venture Investment Corporation, Samsung’s corporate venture arm, investing in breakthrough technologies across industries and from Helium-3 Ventures. Investor demand for this 50% oversubscribed round brought PNE’s Series A total to $30 million. Samsung Venture and Helium-3 join the round’s previous investors, including Honda Motor Co. Ltd., LKQ Corporation, SCG Group, Traxys Group, and Wistron Corporation.
The funds will support construction of PNE’s first standalone, full-scale direct battery recycling advanced manufacturing facility, which will be announced later this month. In total, the company has raised over $55 million, including multiple U.S. Department of Energy grants totaling $18 million and a $7.9 million seed & angel round.
Samsung Electronics to Receive AIMS EUV Equipment from Germany’s ZEISS
It has been confirmed that Samsung Electronics has entered into a supply contract with the German optical company ZEISS for advanced semiconductor equipment. The collaboration between the two companies signifies not only an enhancement in processing yield, quality, and miniaturization pace but also diversifies the core semiconductor equipment supply chain while reducing dependence on ASML.
According to industry sources on April 29, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who visited the ZEISS headquarters in Oberkochen, Germany, on April 26, toured the facilities where ZEISS manufactures the latest Area Image Measurement System (AIMS) extreme ultraviolet (EUV) optical lenses at their Semiconductor Mask Business (SMS) lab.
ZEISS’s AIMS EUV equipment plays a crucial role similar to a microscope for inspecting the presence of defects in semiconductor photomasks (films containing electrical circuits). Samsung Electronics plans to deploy the AIMS EUV equipment in its state-of-the-art semiconductor facilities, including the foundries being constructed in Pyeongtaek and Yongin in South Korea, and in Taylor, Texas, in the U.S. Identifying even the smallest imperfections in photomasks is critical for improving the yield (ratio of good output to input) at Samsung Electronics’ foundries, which are currently considered inferior to those of Taiwan’s TSMC. The number and timing of equipment deployments will be adjusted based on Samsung’s investment pace and production plans.
Celestial AI Closes $175 Million Series C Funding Round Led by U.S. Innovative Technology Fund
Celestial AI™, creator of the Photonic Fabric™ optical interconnect technology platform, today announced it raised $175 million in its Series C funding round led by Thomas Tull’s U.S. Innovative Technology Fund (USIT). In addition to USIT, the round included participation from new and existing investors including AMD Ventures, Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT), Temasek, Temasek’s wholly owned subsidiary Xora Innovation, IAG Capital Partners, Samsung Catalyst, Smart Global Holdings (SGH), Porsche Automobil Holding SE, Engine Ventures, M-Ventures and Tyche Partners.
Amid the explosive growth in demand for generative AI applications and next-generation data centers, hyperscalers are increasingly constrained by utility power availability, memory capacity and high cost of operation. Celestial AI’s Photonic Fabric optical interconnect technology addresses these critical challenges by revolutionizing memory and compute fabrics. This transformational solution provides the foundational technology for users to continue making advancements in AI while maintaining scalable, sustainable and profitable business models. This latest round of funding will enable Celestial AI to execute multiple large-scale customer collaborations focused on commercializing its breakthrough Photonic Fabric technology platform.
Inside Samsung Futuristic Factory Building Massive Amount of Smartphone
Niron Magnetics Secures Funding from Samsung Ventures, Allison Transmission and Magna to Accelerate Production of Rare Earth-Free Magnets
Niron Magnetics, the company pioneering the world’s first high-performance, rare earth-free permanent magnets, announced it has received $25 million in new strategic funding. This round was led by Samsung Ventures, which has the investment mandate to closely track the strategic priorities of leading consumer electronics manufacturer Samsung and encompasses investments in consumer electronics, semiconductors, telecommunications, and more. Allison Ventures, the venture capital arm of Allison Transmission, leading designer and manufacturer of vehicle propulsion solutions, was also part of this funding round, along with one of the world’s largest automotive suppliers, Magna. This investment will strengthen Niron’s ability to expand its production facilities and scale manufacturing capacity for exclusive customer programs and initial sales of the Clean Earth Magnet.
With this new funding, Niron will expand its pilot production facilities, enhancing its ability to serve diverse clientele and support customer prototyping programs. The company will also scale up manufacturing capacity to meet growing demand and accelerate research and development efforts to drive continuous improvement in performance and efficiency.
INERATEC Raises $129 Million Led by Piva Capital to Usher in the Next Era of Sustainable Mobility
INERATEC, a pioneering e-Fuel company, announced it has raised over $129 million in its Series B funding round, led by Piva Capital with additional participation from HG Ventures, TDK Ventures, Copec WIND Ventures, RockCreek, Emerald, Samsung Ventures as well as the increased support from current investors, including global corporates like ENGIE New Ventures, Safran Corporate Ventures and Honda.
INERATEC’s technological advancement is a scalable patented technology that enables the production of ‘drop-in’ e-Fuels. The process involves two main steps: first, turning CO2 and hydrogen into synthesis gas, then using a second reactor to turn the synthesis gas into liquid and solid hydrocarbons. The e-Fuels are compliant with standards targeted for industries heavily relying on fossil fuels, such as aviation, shipping, road transport, and the chemical industry.
Since it was founded in 2016, INERATEC has built and operated numerous pilot plants and is engaged with over 30 customers in the respective fields of application. Additionally, the company has been recognized with several key awards, including the German Founders Award, the Next Economy Award, and the EARTO Award and was recently selected as Top Innovator by UpLink, the Innovation platform of the World Economic Forum.
Samsung self-development of'smart sensor' to catch semiconductor yield
Samsung DS develops its own smart sensor system for semiconductor process control and management. A strategy to increase semiconductor yield and productivity, localize existing foreign products. In an attempt to build an intelligent semiconductor production system, it is expected to ultimately implement an artificial fab.
The smart sensor that is currently in development is a sensor that is intended to measure plasma uniformity for wafers, which is precisely to measure and manage this because process performance is as important as being influenced by plasma, such as etching, deposition, and cleaning, which are key to semiconductor processes.
Ionomr Innovations closes USD$20M Series A-4 Financing with broad industry participation
Ionomr Innovations Inc., developer and manufacturer of breakthrough, foundational polymer and membrane technologies for next-generation hydrogen applications, has closed a US$20 million Series A-4 funding round with returning lead investors NGIF Cleantech Ventures and Pallasite Ventures supported by Shell Ventures, Chevron Technology Ventures and Finindus, and joined by N.V. Bekaert, Asahi Kasei, Samsung Ventures and SAIC Capital.
The funding will allow Ionomr to further scale its ion-exchange membranes and polymers, Aemion® and Pemion®, that are fundamental to accelerating the hydrogen economy – from production of H2 gas and chemicals through electrolysis to efficient use of hydrogen in fuel cells. Ionomr’s superior materials can make more efficient, cost-competitive solutions possible, including eliminating expensive precious metal requirements from hydrogen production, CO2 electrolysis and supporting higher-temperature fuel cell solutions.
📱 Inside the Factory Where Robots Are Building Your Next Samsung Phone
The sound of bots whirring, air gaskets blowing and mechanical arms shifting positions can be heard throughout the facility. Every once in a while, an autonomous robot will play a cute jingle to signal its arrival. These robots, known as AGVs (for automated guided vehicles), roam the factory floor shuttling materials to their designated stations, guided by aluminum tracks on the floor. I’m told there are 80 of the bots in the company’s Gumi facility, where phones like the Galaxy S23 and the new Galaxy Z Flip 5 are assembled.
A large portion of the assembly line is dedicated to quality checks. Samsung says there are about 30,000 to 50,000 inspection items for the Galaxy S23 lineup alone. That includes the S Pen connection; the charging port; near-field communication functionality (or NFC, the tech that powers contactless payments); touch screen panels; fingerprint sensors; cameras; speakers; the SIM card tray; and Wi-Fi connections. There are also checkpoints within the assembly line for chips that enable millimeter wave 5G connections and ultra wideband, the proximity-sensing tech that enables phones to more easily share files and to function as digital car keys.
ABB and Samsung Engineering to collaborate on gas analyzers for Saudi Arabia’s energy industries
ABB has signed a framework agreement with Samsung Engineering in Saudi Arabia to collaborate in engineering and procurement activities in the Kingdom. With this agreement, ABB becomes a single-source vendor for gas analyzer system integration for Samsung in Saudi Arabia.
Together, the two companies plan to explore business opportunities and provide complete analytical solutions to the Saudi oil & gas market. Effective measurement of gas quality is key to safety and reliability, decreasing the environmental footprint and increasing profitability of the production process. ABB’s solutions support the most demanding applications.
Membrion Series B round closes at $12.5M
Electro-desalination membrane manufacturer, Membrion today announced the completion of their Series B funding round, raising a round total of 12.5 million dollars. The second close of 5.5 million dollars is anchored by Samsung Venture Investment Corporation and Lam Capital. They are joined by Indico Capital Partners, Harvard Business School New York Alumni Angel Group, New York Angels, and GiantLeap Capital.
Tenstorrent Raises a $100M Strategic Up-round Co-led by Hyundai Motor Group and the Samsung Catalyst Fund
Tenstorrent is pleased to announce that it closed a $100M strategic financing up-round led by Hyundai Motor Group and Samsung Catalyst Fund, with participation from Fidelity Ventures, Eclipse Ventures, Epiq Capital, Maverick Capital, and more.
Tenstorrent sells AI processors and licenses AI and RISC-V IP to customers that want to own and customize their silicon. Both Hyundai Motor Group and Samsung have a strong history of product leadership and enjoy massive success in their respective markets.
Samsung to make Tesla’s fifth-generation HW 5.0 auto chip
Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest memory chipmaker, will make Tesla Inc.’s next-generation Full Self-Driving (FSD) chips to be used in the top US electric carmaker’s Level-5 autonomous driving vehicles. Last year, Tesla chose Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) as its sole partner for the production of the HW 5.0 auto chip. Now, Tesla plans to work with both TSMC and Samsung, or could switch from TSMC to Samsung altogether, for mass production of the fifth-generation auto chips, industry officials said.
Samsung had been supplying earlier versions of FSD chips to Tesla for EVs such as the Model 3, Model 5, Model X and Model Y. Last week, HI Investment & Securities analyst Park Sang-wook said in a research note that Samsung’s chip production yield rates for the 4 nm and finer 3 nm nodes have improved to over 75% and 60%, respectively.
Samsung to apply AI, big data tech to entire chipmaking process
In partnership with the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT), Samsung’s Device Solutions (DS) division, which oversees its semiconductor business, will lead the company’s efforts to broaden the use of AI throughout the chipmaking process, sources familiar with the matter said on Monday. Under the plan, Samsung will seek to apply AI tech to DRAM design automation, chip material development, foundry yield improvement, mass production and chip packaging.
Specifically, the company hopes its AI tech will determine the cause of unnecessary wafer losses, optimize the AI-based manufacturing process and analyze DRAM product defects, sources said.
🤝 Samsung Electronics Signs Net Zero Home Cooperation Partnership With SolarEdge
Samsung Electronics today announced that it has signed a partnership with SolarEdge, the global leader in residential solar and storage solutions, to expand its coverage of the Net Zero Home ecosystem.
Integrating with SolarEdge Home, SolarEdge’s smart energy ecosystem, SmartThings Energy offers users new ways to optimize energy consumption and lower their home’s energy bills. It provides one-stop support, from monitoring a household’s photovoltaic (PV) generation and battery status at a glance to optimize energy consumption and save energy with its AI Energy Mode. The SolarEdge ecosystem has expanded to include Samsung’s wide range of smart energy technologies, including heat pumps to power more devices with clean solar energy, together providing visibility on appliances’ impact on household energy consumption.
Ixana raises $3M with breakthrough wearable silicon chip
Ixana, the wearable hardware company developing high-speed human-computer interfaces, announced it has closed $3 million in seed funding and is backed by Uncorrelated Ventures, Samsung Next, Evonexus, Paradigm Shift and Hack VC.
Behind the Foldable Phones in Our Pockets
Lumotive Closes Strategic Funding Round Led by Samsung Ventures
Lumotive, the developer of Light Control Metasurface (LCM™) beam steering chips enabling the next generation of lidar, announced that it has secured a round of strategic funding led by Samsung Ventures. The investment included contributions from new, strategic investors such as Himax Technologies Inc., as well as Bill Gates, Quan Funds and MetaVC Partners. Lumotive is planning to use the funding to accelerate the development and customer delivery of optical semiconductor devices that enable the next generation of lidar sensors. More than two dozen world-class companies are currently engaged with Lumotive to utilize the high-performance, small form factor, and low-cost advantages of the company’s LCM chips to develop next-generation systems for autonomy, automation, and augmented reality (AR) markets.
Slamcore raises $16 million to deliver low-cost spatial understanding
Slamcore, a pioneer in vision-based location and mapping for robots, autonomous machines and consumer electronics products, has raised $16 million in Series A capital that will allow the business to rapidly capitalize on its proven technology which combines AI with consumer-grade cameras, sensors and processors to solve the complex challenges of mapping and navigating for a wide range of autonomous machines and devices.
The funding round was led by ROBO Global Ventures and Presidio Ventures who invested alongside Amadeus Capital, Global Brain, IP Group, MMC and Octopus. Strategic investors Samsung Ventures, Toyota Ventures, and Yamato Holdings also joined the round.
Why we invested in ZEDEDA: visibility, control, and security for the distributed edge
Traditionally, the deployment and remote management of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) at the edge has been difficult and expensive. One of the most significant hurdles faced by enterprise users today is the cost and lead time needed to update what are often proprietary legacy solutions. In the current environment, the majority of IIoT solution providers offer highly customized, siloed solutions for customers in specific verticals. As a result, these verticalized solutions tend to be fragmented and often are expensive to update and maintain.
We invested in ZEDEDA because the company has proven it can remain a horizontal play across multiple industrial verticals. ZEDEDA was founded in 2016 as a vertical solution provider. But in 2019, the company made the decision to open source its flagship product, EVE-OS.
Landing AI Secures Funding to Unlock Power of Small Datasets, Unleashing Next Era of AI
Landing AI, led by artificial intelligence visionary, Andrew Ng, developed LandingLens™, a fast, easy to use enterprise MLOps platform. It applies AI and deep learning to help manufacturers solve visual inspection problems, find product defects more reliably, and generate business value.
“You don’t always need big data to win with AI. You need good data that teaches the AI what you want it to learn,” said Ng, Founder & CEO of Landing AI. “AI built for 50 million data points doesn’t work when you only have 50 data points. By bringing machine learning to everyone regardless of the size of their data set, the next era of AI will have a real-world impact on all industries.”
The data-centric approach of Landing AI is also key to making LandingLens fast and easy-to-use. The process of engineering the data, instead of the AI software, gives an efficient way for manufacturers to teach an AI model what to do. Domain experts, not just AI experts, can now build an AI system, and take it to production. For example, rather than needing to write pages of code to train a neural network, a domain expert can do it with a few mouse clicks. This no code/low code data-centric platform enables new users to build advanced AI models in less than a day. Vision inspection projects that used to take over a year can be executed in just weeks using LandingLens.
Mattrix Technologies Announces $3 Million Series A Round with Investment from Samsung Ventures and JSR Corporation
Mattrix Technologies, a semiconductor device company developing breakthrough pixel architectures for flat-panel displays, has announced the company has closed its Series A financing round with $3 million in investment from Samsung Venture Investment Corporation, the global investment arm of the Samsung Group, and JSR Corporation, a leading display materials supplier and innovator in global technology markets. The funding will be used to develop production-ready manufacturing processes and fabricate a fully-integrated display prototype based on Mattrix Technologies’ unique pixel architecture.