Nitride Solutions Inc., a leading developer and manufacturer of advanced nitride substrates for LEDs, lasers, and power electronics, recently closed their fourth round of funding at $2.75M.
“It exceeded our expectations,” said Nitride Solutions CEO Jeremy Jones. “The original [goal] was $2 million and we oversubscribed it by $750,000.”
This latest round of funding was led by Lincoln-based Nelnet, Inc., one of Nitride Solutions’ earliest investors, along with Leawood Capital Venture Fund from Leawood, Kan., and DK Group from Omaha, new investors in the company.
“Nelnet has been a strategic investor for us and led this latest round,” said Jones. “About 70% of [this funding round] was returning investors from the Midwest.”
Nitride Solutions Inc. produces a material that doesn’t occur naturally anywhere on Earth and is in high-demand by advanced electronics markets. Funds will be used to ramp up manufacturing capacity and staffing to meet rapidly growing customer demand for the company’s aluminum nitride products.
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“We are expanding production capacity for our aluminum nitride products to meet customer demand from the United States and Asia,” Jones said. “We are investing to be able to continue to meet and exceed their quality and delivery expectations. We very much appreciate the continuing support of our existing investors, and welcome key new ones to our family.”
Chuck Norris, a director at Nelnet, said that his company likes to invest in innovative companies with a strong management team and great culture. As part Nelnet’s innovation culture, the company focuses on new businesses, businesses with strong regional impact, and businesses that provide innovative solutions across a variety of industries.
Nitride Solutions was a natural fit for them.
“From the beginning, we were impressed by the team at Nitride Solutions. They have proven to have the expertise, and more importantly the grit, to make Nitride Solutions into a world-class provider of high-tech materials,” said Norris. “The combination of Nitride Solutions’ expertise in the manufacturing space, as well as its advanced technology, made them a great addition to our portfolio.”
Karl Gemperli, the Managing Director of Leawood Ventures, the manager the Leawood Capital Venture Fund, said they look for disruptive technologies when evaluating potential investments.
“The aluminum nitride process could be transformative to the electronics industry,” Gemperli said. “With massive global export potential, Nitride Solutions has built a production line that can manufacture at scale. I am very impressed with their organization.”
Jones anticipates a lot of growth for Nitride Solutions in the next two years. He also said that this is an exciting time for the company and he appreciates the support of its investors.
“Our previous rounds were to develop and validate our technology in the markets, this round is to increase our production,” said Jones. “This has been a really exciting transition for us.”
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Christine McGuigan is the Associate Editor of Silicon Prairie News.
