Microfabrica, Inc. has closed $15
million in
Series B financing, led by international venture capital firm WK Technology
Fund.
All of Microfabrica’s existing investors also participated in this round,
including DynaFund Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Partech
International, ChevronTexaco Venture Equities, Zone Ventures and Atherton
Venture Partners.
The funds will be used primarily to expand Microfabrica’s global presence,
move into a production mode and expand the capabilities of the company’s
unique EFAB® manufacturing process to cover additional markets. The
EFAB process enables complex microdevices and microsystems previously
impossible or impractical to manufacture using other approaches.
WK Technology Fund is a leading venture capital firm with over $600 million
under management and investments in high tech startups across North
America and Asia. Wen Ko, WK chairman and founder, as well as Dr. Keh-Shew
Lu, WK partner in charge of worldwide semiconductor investments, will be
joining Microfabrica’s board of directors. Mr. Ko is one of the pioneers
of the VC
industry in Taiwan and the founding chairman of Taiwan’s Venture Capital
Association. Before founding the firm, Mr. Ko was the chairman and president
of HP Taiwan for 13 years.
Dr. Lu is a semiconductor industry veteran who joined WK after a 27-year
career at Texas Instruments, most recently as senior vice president running
TI’s
worldwide operation in Analog, Logic and Mixed-signal products. Before that,
he
was Asia president for Texas Instruments from 1994 to 1997.
“ We invest in companies that leverage the global trend of outsourcing
the
design and manufacturing of electronic systems. Microfabrica’s focus
on
building an innovative manufacturing technology with applications from
communications to computers make it a perfect fit for our portfolio,” said
Dr. Lu, partner at WK. “We feel that the company’s combination
of
breakthrough micro-fabrication technology, the breadth of unique
applications and its strong management team have positioned it to
revolutionize micro-device manufacturing.”
“ WK’s investment during a tepid investment climate is a testimony
to the
strength of our technology and market strategy,” said Vacit Arat, president
and CEO of Microfabrica, Inc. “We have already demonstrated to major
customers worldwide the leaps in performance, flexibility and cost that EFAB
enables in a variety of compelling applications. With this strong endorsement
of WK as well as all of our existing investors, we are now well-positioned
to
move into a production mode and realize the full potential of the technology.”
Microfabrica previously raised over $11 million in its first round of financing
in February 2001, followed by an additional $5.7 million in Series A1
financing, led by Partech International in July 2002.
Posted 1st March 2004
