– GERMANY, Freiburg – NexWafe GmbH, today announced the completion of a €10 million Series B funding with participation from both existing and new shareholders, including Fraunhofer, Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, GAP Technology Holding, Lynwood Schweiz AG, and Bantina Invest Limited.
The company also announced the appointment of Bart Markus, a current member of the Board of Directors, as Chairman of the Board of Directors, succeeding Peter Pauli who will step down as Chairman of the Board of Directors to devote more time to other commitments.
Bart Markus brings more than two decades of experience as a serial entrepreneur and investor in high technology and holds an MSc in Applied Physics from the Twente University of Technology and an MBA with distinction from INSEAD.
“I would like to thank Peter Pauli for the industrial perspective he brought to NexWafe, and for his invaluable leadership and service to the company,” said Bart Markus. “Now, with this new funding and our new CEO in place, we will be able to take the company to the next level both in technology readiness with the pilot line as well as in commercialization of the technology.”
“Helping to lead NexWafe on its transition from an academic spin-off to its emergence as a technology product company was a great honor,” said Peter Pauli. “NexWafe’s EpiNex™ wafers are a key element of the future solar market, as the industry strives to meet expectations in terms of costs and PV efficiency.”
With this additional cash infusion, NexWafe will move forward with further industrialization of its EpiNex green high-efficiency solar wafer technology and begin its pilot manufacturing activities. As the company moves into its next stage, it is also intensifying discussions with potential partners to commercialize the technology. The company’s CEO, Davor Sutija, has a longstanding track record in creating such partnerships and will be leading this effort. He was appointed to his position in September.
About NexWafe GmbH
NexWafe uses in-line epitaxy for the production of high-efficiency monocrystalline silicon wafers. By minimizing waste through its direct-gas-to-wafer manufacturing, NexWafe’s Epinex wafers are fully compatible with conventional solar cell and module manufacturing with a 70 percent reduction in the carbon footprint of conventional wafers and at greatly reduced production cost. Using a proprietary process, a crystalline silicon layer is deposited on a seed wafer and then detached, producing finished wafers with optimal thinness and superior material properties. The company has a 5MW pilot production facility in Freiburg/Germany, with qualification shipments planned to start in 2021 and plans to raise further capital to support that activity. NexWafe was spun out from Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in 2015.
Pioneers of in-line epitaxy for production of high-efficiency monocrystalline silicon wafers, NexWafe’s EpiWafers provide solar panel manufacturers with dramatically higher efficiency and uncompromised yield at 70 percent of the cost of traditional monocrystalline Cz-Si, all without having to retool their production lines. NexWafe’s technology also allows for the production of ultra-thin wafers, already demonstrated in the company’s pilot line in Freiburg, providing a roadmap to next-generation ultra-thin and tandem architectures.
For more information: https://www.nexwafe.com/
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