News: Microelectronics
14 May 2025
Finwave raises $8.2m in bridge investment to fuel market push
Finwave Semiconductor Inc of Waltham, MA, USA has announced a new $8.2m bridge investment round, led by Fine Structure Ventures, Engine Ventures, and Safar Partners, with strategic participation from technology partner GlobalFoundries. Finwave reckons that the new funding signals strong conviction from investors and industry leaders in the market potential of its unique GaN-on-Si technology as it transitions from a technology-centric innovator to a product-driven company.
Founded in 2012 by researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as Cambridge Electronics before being rebranded in June 2022 as Finwave Semiconductor (with offices in San Diego, CA and the Bay Area), the technology company’s portfolio includes gallium nitride (GaN) FinFETs, enhancement-mode (E-mode) MISHEMTs, and high-performance RF switches.
“This funding round validates the years of engineering and innovation behind our proprietary GaN-on-Si technology and provides resources we need to move from the development phase, to delivering differentiated, high-performance products,” says CEO Dr Pierre-Yves Lesaicherre.
Finwave will use the investment to accelerate revenue generation, expand its product portfolio and continue developing GaN-on-Si technology for the following targeted market segments: high-power RF switches, power amplifiers for communications infrastructure, and power amplifiers for mobile devices.
“Since our initial investment, Finwave has made remarkable progress towards becoming a leader in GaN-on-Si high-performance RF components,” comments Fine Structure Ventures’ senior managing director Jennifer Uhrig. “Their strategic foundry partnership with GlobalFoundries and distribution partnership with RFMW have been particularly notable, legitimizing their design capabilities and giving customers confidence in Finwave’s ability to bring high-performance, reliable products to market,” she adds.
Finwave’s GaN-on-Si technology is said to improve on the superior performance of GaN solutions while adopting the cost and scale of manufacturing advantages from high-volume CMOS silicon wafers. Its product portfolio includes high-power RF switches, which are now globally available due to Finwave’s partnership with RF distributor RFMW, as well as upcoming RF power amplifiers.
“As early investors in Finwave, we’ve had the privilege of supporting the team as they advanced their MIT RF semiconductor technology, achieving world-record RF performance,” notes Engine Ventures’ general partner Reed Sturtevant.
“Many industries will benefit a great deal from the Finwave platform in the coming years,” adds Safar’s managing partner Arunas Chesonis.
With a product roadmap designed to harness the full potential of GaN, Finwave aims to deliver cost-effective RF devices, delivering enhanced performance, and enabling more efficient RF systems. The firm’s unique GaN-on-Si RF chips are targeted at RF applications including communications infrastructure (base stations, MIMO, small cells, land mobile radios (LMRs), customer premise equipment (CPE), fixed-wireless access), Wi-Fi routers, satellite, radar, drones, anti-drones, test & measurement equipment, and medical equipment.
Finwave announces global distribution agreement with RFMW
Finwave and GlobalFoundries agree technology development and licensing deal
Finwave showcases performance improvements with GaN-on-Si technology at MWC Barcelona
Finwave raises $12.2m in Series A round to bring 3DGaN to volume production
