BMW iVentures invests in GaN semiconductor company
The investment will be used to expand GaN Systems’ global sales and accelerate product development. Through their better switching behavior, GaN transistors enable electronics designers to reduce weight, size and overall systems cost – three properties the designers of electric vehicles are seeking for desperately. “In my opinion, Gallium-Nitride based transistors are the next big stepping stone in miniaturization,” commented Uwe Higgen, the managing director of BMW i Ventures. “We have seen systems one quarter of the size while providing better efficiency than traditional silicon-based alternatives. With GaN, any system that needs power can become smaller, lighter and more efficient. These capabilities are particularly relevant in the automotive sector,” Higgen said.
Besides BMW i Ventures who led the investment round, a number of other investors are participating in funding GaN Systems. They include BDC Capital, Chrysalix Venture Capital, Cycle Capital Management, Rockport Capital and Tsing Capital. Upon request by eeNews Europe, GaN declined to elaborate on the amount of the investment.
Besides GaN Systems, BMW is funding a range of startup companies through i Ventures. The spectrum of these companies provides interesting hints how the carmaker expects the future of mobility to develop.
These companies are active in the areas of autonomous driving, digital car, automotive data cloud, electromobility, Artificial Intelligence, Shared Mobiity, Energy Services and Industry 4.0. Among them are bus.com who privides a bus rental platform; Chargemaster, a UK-based provider of charging solutions for electric vehicles; Desktop Metal, vendor of 3D metal printing solutions; moovit, vendor of an app that manages multimodal travel; Proterra who develops and sells electric city buses; and Ridecell who sells and operates IT platforms to manage car sharing services.
More information:
https://www.bmwiventures.com/portfolio
Further reading:
Electric vehicles drive power electronics market
Next-gen GaN transistors come in sight, targeting electromobility
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