Pragmatic Semiconductor secures $231m in investments
Pragmatic Semiconductor has raised GBP 162 million (USD 206 million) in a first close of its Series D funding round. The company says that it's planning a limited second close for key investors, of which GBP 20 million (USD 25 million) additional investment is already allocated.
The investment will enable Pragmatic to accelerate its expansion plans in the UK to meet the growing demand. This includes building its 3rd and 4th fabrication lines at its Pragmatic Park facility in Durham. Over the next five years Pragmatic says that it anticipates building at least eight manufacturing lines in the UK, creating over 500 highly skilled jobs in the North East and Cambridge.
Each line is capable of producing billions of chips that enable countless novel, fast-growing applications across multiple sectors including consumer, industrial, healthcare and beyond.
The majority of the investment secured (over 70%) is from UK investors. M&G’s Catalyst and UK Infrastructure Bank co-led the funding round with participation from new investors including Northern Gritstone, Latitude and MVolution Partners, and existing investors such as British Patient Capital, Cambridge Innovation Capital and Prosperity7 Ventures (the diversified growth fund under Aramco Ventures).
“This successful Series D round is a clear testament to the massive opportunity for our innovative technology to enable item-level intelligence in virtually any object on the planet. Our global customers value our ultra-thin and flexible form factor, our breakthrough low cost of customisation and rapid production cycles, as well as the lower environmental footprint compared to silicon. Scaling our manufacturing capacity on the UK’s first ever 300mm wafer production lines at our site in Durham will enable us to deliver hundreds of billions of chips to customers worldwide over the coming decade,” says David Moore, Pragmatic’s CEO, in a press release.
Moore continues to state that the company is also seeing demand from customers for its Fab-as-a-Service deployment model. This is a modular semiconductor manufacturing approach that provides customers with access to an efficient, localised and secure supply of chips through a dedicated production facility wherever they need it.
