Reuters- Canadian power chip maker GaN Systems raised $150 million in a funding round led by Fidelity Management Research as it seeks to expand its market share, including a push into the electric car market.
The GaN Systems Chief Executive Jim Witham said he has secured production volume with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co because of a chip shortage that has plagued the automotive industry.
For several years, BMW and Toyota Motor Corp have been investors in GaN Systems, and Witham said GaN recently signed its first capacity agreement with BMW to guarantee the delivery of power chips worth over a quarter of a billion dollars. He said that about 100 power chips are used in every electric vehicle.
GaN Systems uses gallium nitride GaN a material that has been applied more recently for chip making, which is able to achieve a four times reduction in power loss compared to traditional silicon-based power chips, said Witham. Witham said that they are growing fast, despite the fact that the gallium nitride chips only make up 1% of the $16 billion power chip market.
There's a big play in automotive, EV, and now it's time to capitalize the company for that rapid growth and to gobble up market share, said Witham.
Witham said that GaN Systems chips are picking up traction in power chargers for consumer goods because they are smaller and more energy efficient than silicon power chips. They are also finding use in robots, servers, industrial motors and renewable energy facilities.