Leading Edge Equipment develops manufacturing equipment that produces silicon wafers via a floating silicon ribbon method, reducing the multi-step ingot-and-saw process to a single step. The company says its approach consumes less energy, produces almost no waste and can halve wafer costs while boosting commercial panel power by up to 7% and cutting manufacturing emissions by more than 50%. Founders Alison Greenlee and Peter Kellerman rejuvenated a project previously mothballed by Applied Materials. The team secured $5 million in federal grants and an initial $6 million from venture firms in 2018 to kick off development, and has since brought on Nathan Stoddard as chief technology officer and Rick Schwerdtfeger to lead commercialization work. Leading Edge has secured a 31,000 square foot facility, doubled its team, and plans commercial pilots in 2021. The company intends to use new capital to ramp sales, marketing and prepare for market launch.

Total raised

$8M

Funding rounds

1

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Oct 2020