SAN FRANCISCO—A chip packaging startup with a technology that embeds electronic components inside printed circuit-boards has secured $15 million in series B funding from NorthZone Ventures, Index Ventures and Conor Venture Partners.
Imbera Electronics, a Melbourne, Fla., company with roots in Finland, offers patented Integrated Module Board (IMB) technology for 3-D semiconductor packaging. According to Risto Tuominen, Imbera's founder and chief technology officer, interest in IMB is picking up, particularly in the space-constrained mobile handset sector. Tuominen said he couldn't discuss specific customers due to contractual obligations.
Imbera plans to use the $15 million in funding to ramp up the company's new high-volume manufacturing operation in Sangsong-ri, South Korea, which is scheduled to begin production in the fourth quarter, the company said. The funds will also be used for continued R&D activities at Imbera's facility in Espoo, Finland, the company said.
Imbera was founded in 2002 to commercialize embedded component technology work done by Tuominen at the Helsinki University of Technology in Finland since the late 1990s. Tuominen said Imbera was one of the first companies addressing embedding components within pc boards and that most competing technologies have now faded away. In 2007, Tuominen stepped down from the position of CEO to become chief technology officer as the company appointed former Unisem Corp. executive Jeff Baloun to the top job.
Unlike traditional surface mount technology, Imbera's technology embeds components within an organic substrate. The types of components that can be embedded include bare silicon or gallium arsenide dies, discrete passive components, application specific integrated passive components, and wafer-level chip scale packages, according to materials on Imberra's website.
Imberra's manufacturing process combines pc board manufacturing, component packaging and component assembly into a single sequence, according to the company.
"Really what we are doing is merging these two areas [packaging and pc board manufacturing] that are not so familiar with each other," Tuominen said. "We are combining these two worlds into one."
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