MIG AG, through its MIG Fonds, has kicked off the year with a seed investment in deep-tech company Zadient Technologies, based in Chambéry, France. and founded in 2020.
Joining the financing round led by MIG is Vestel Ventures, the investment arm of Turkish consumer electronics manufacturer Vestel.
Zadient, which was founded in 2020, specialises in the production of synthetic silicon carbide (SiC) a building block for power semiconductors important for the rapidly growing electric vehicle market and used in a variety of other industrial applications. SiC occurs in nature as the extremely rare mineral, moissanite. Current processing methods of synthetic SiC are highly complex and expensive. Zadient’s innovation lies in its high quality crystal production which improves the manufacturing process and lowers semiconductor production costs. The first round of financing will be used to develop the technology for market entry.
MIG’s involvement in Zadient follows a previous successful investment in the SiC market. In 2018, MIG sold its portfolio company Siltectra, focused on an earlier stage of the value chain, to Infineon for a significant sum. The experience allows MIG Fonds to contribute important expertise, including in the person of Dr. Jan Richter, former CTO of Siltectra, as co-founder of Zadient.
Dr Sören Hein, Partner of MIG AG, says: “We are pleased to finance a second promising company in the exciting silicon carbide market as well as contributing our network and experience.”
Zadient is MIG’s first investment in France and only the fourth portfolio company of MIG Fonds outside the German-speaking region, following Innatera (Netherlands, 2020), IQM (Finland, 2019) and Liva Healthcare (Denmark, 2019).
Michael Motschmann, General Partner of MIG AG, says: “With our first French investment, we strengthen the international orientation of our portfolio and engage in one of the most dynamic European markets for innovative deep-tech start-ups.”