III-nitride epitaxial material supplier EpiGaN nv of Hasselt, Belgium has been named in the 2014 Global Cleantech 100's Ones to Watch list, produced by San Francisco-based Cleantech Group (whose mission is to connect corporates to sustainable innovation through the i3 market intelligence platform, expert consulting services, and global events).
The inaugural Ones to Watch list seeks to highlight a group of upcoming companies that are catching the eye of leading players in the market. They are companies who did not quite have enough market support to make the 2014 Global Cleantech 100 list itself, who have never been on a previous Global Cleantech 100 list, but who carry pockets of support among key corporations, investors and analysts within Cleantech Group’s Expert Panel (a group of 84 panelists who help determine the annual Global Cleantech 100 list).
Incorporated in 2010, EpiGaN was founded by chief executive officer Dr Marianne Germain, chief technology officer Dr Joff Derluyn and chief operating officer Dr Stefan Degroote as a spin-off of nanoelectronics research center Imec of Leuven, Belgium. The founders jointly developed gallium nitride-on-silicon (GaN-on-Si) technology on 4” and 6” wafers at Imec, part of which has been licensed to EpiGaN. In mid-2012, EpiGaN closed its first capital round of €4m, to allow it to start volume production of GaN-on-Si epitaxial material. Investors include Capricorn Cleantech Fund, Robert Bosch Venture Capital, and LRM.
“We are currently expanding our leading GaN-on-Si epiwafer production capacity to process larger wafer diameters of up to 200mm, offering a very high breakdown voltage,” says Germain. “The new facility is based on our unique in-situ SiN capping layer concept. It is equipped to support the volume demand from our worldwide industrial customers who are developing a new generation of highly efficient and energy-saving power systems solutions,” she adds.
“We are excited to release a second list under the Global Cleantech 100 program, to recognise 60 other rising stars that, from the process we ran, we can see are catching the attention of some important players in the market,” says Richard Youngman, Cleantech Group’s managing director, Europe & Asia and creator of the Global Cleantech 100 program. “We look forward to following their progress, and hopefully seeing some of them graduate to future editions of the Global Cleantech 100.”
This year, a record number of nominations for the annual Global Cleantech 100 list were received: 5995 distinct companies from 60 countries. These companies were weighted and scored to create a short list of 327 companies. Short-listed nominees were reviewed by Cleantech Group’s Expert Panel, resulting in the inaugural Ones to Watch list in addition to the annual Global Cleantech 100 list. To qualify for both lists, companies must be independent, for-profit cleantech companies that are not listed on any major stock exchange.
