MICLEDI Microdisplays Secures Funding to Propel Cutting-Edge microLED Display Innovation

CES Las Vegas

MICLEDI Microdisplays, a leading player in the microdisplay technology space, has announced the successful first closing of its Series A funding round. The round saw participation from esteemed investors including imec.xpand, PMV, imec, KBC, and SFPIM, which highlights the strong support for MICLEDI’s value proposition and the significant progress achieved in its seed round.

With a total funding of nearly $30 million to date, MICLEDI has made remarkable strides during its seed round. Sean Lord, CEO of MICLEDI, expressed his excitement about the company’s achievements, stating, “Our door is open to engagements with some of the world’s largest and most innovative electronic product manufacturing companies.” These companies are actively working on their own Augmented Reality (AR) display projects for various applications like smart wearables and automotive heads-up displays (HUDs).

During the seed round, MICLEDI focused on validating a groundbreaking 300 mm wafer manufacturing methodology. This achievement positions the company as the first in the world to achieve this scale. Additionally, the funding enabled MICLEDI to develop best-in-class blue and green GAN-based microLED arrays with pixel-by-pixel microlenses. The company also demonstrated solid red performance using red GAN material with early proof of superior performance based on red AlInGaP. These advancements were showcased to large audiences at CES 2024 and SPIE AR-VR-MR 2024.

The latest round of funding will be utilized to expand MICLEDI’s team, design and build an active backplane ASIC, and develop a fully-functional microLED display module suitable for AR glasses. The funds will also support collaboration agreements with customers and help meet the growing demand for immersive video applications in the rapidly expanding AR market.

Experts in the industry unanimously agree that GAN-based material technology is crucial for achieving RGB microLED displays that are bright enough to meet the requirements of AR and other microdisplay applications. MICLEDI, in collaboration with key customers, has already launched specialty displays catering to these applications while maintaining a primary focus on consumer AR. Furthermore, MICLEDI has entered into an agreement with Global Foundries (GF) to transfer its unique microLED manufacturing flow into GF’s CMOS fab, alongside backplane ASICs designed in GF’s advanced CMOS process nodes. This collaboration marks another industry first and aims to address the cost and volume demands of the booming AR market.

Looking ahead to 2024, MICLEDI plans to introduce full-color modules with an active backplane and is actively developing configurations for all three basic intrinsic color arrays with quantum dot filtering. The company is also set to unveil its first demo glasses in the first half of the second quarter of 2024, further solidifying its position as a frontrunner in the microdisplay technology space.

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