CMC Microsystems, the not-for-profit that accelerates research into advanced technology, has doled out $10.7 million in federal funding to nearly a dozen Canadian semiconductor technology companies as part of a funding challenge.
The winning projects addressed challenges with edge computing, like minimizing heat, power needs, weight, and required space.
The grant funding came through CMC’s Fabrication of Integrated Components for the Internet’s Edge (FABrIC) network, which held a challenge to develop products for Internet of Things devices. The challenge launched this past October with a focus on supporting edge computing solutions.
Edge computing refers to processing that happens on devices rather than the cloud. The selected projects addressed challenges with edge computing, like minimizing heat, power needs, weight, and required space, according to CMC.
The funding is intended not just to develop new products, but to expand domestic industrial manufacturing capacity, according to a Thursday press release.
The challenge courted 64 expressions of interest from across Canada, but the ultimate 11 winners are working on solutions in industries like advanced manufacturing, cleantech, medtech, and more. CMC said in a release that every project has a clear path to commercialization.
Six of the successful projects are based in Québec, four are in Ontario, and one is in British Columbia. Alongside industry investment, the projects are worth a collective $44.3 million, according to CMC.
The biggest winners were in Ottawa, with Blumind and Ranovus each receiving $1.5 million for their novel chip designs for wearables and data centre applications. Sheba Microsystems and mmSense Technologies each received about half of that for their sensor technologies.
In Québec, Boréas Technologies, HaiLa Technologies, SPARK Microsystems, and WhalePiX, each secured $1 million for their energy and heat-efficient chip projects, while Indie Photonics and Noze got a bit less than that for their respective submarine cable monitoring and aroma-sensing tech.
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“AI is…expected to be the biggest growth engine for semiconductors and sensors, from edge processors to smart sensors and beyond,” Gordon Harling, president and CEO of CMC Microsystems, said in a press release. “SPARK’s wireless technology is at the forefront of this transformation.”
Bonsai Micro was the lone recipient in British Columbia, receiving $618,000 for its wireless communications-enhancing chip.
FABrIC was kick-started in 2024 with a $120 million investment from the federal government’s Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF). Now under the purview of the SIF’s successor, the Strategic Response Fund, CMC is tasked with administering FABrIC to build out a network of support for Canada’s semiconductor industry.
Feature image courtesy Unsplash. Photo by Jonas Svidras.