Québec City-based Femtum has moved into a much larger hub as it looks to scale up the production of its laser technology for the chipmakers at the heart of the AI data centre boom.
The news: Femtum develops laser-cutting tech for advanced semiconductor manufacturers. After four years at the National Optics Institute-based Quantino tech incubator, Femtum announced the opening of its new, $2.1-million headquarters inside Québec City’s Metropolitan Technology Park today. The factory, which spans cleanrooms, laboratories, and offices, expands Femtum’s footprint sixfold. It also significantly boosts the company’s production capacity.
From the source: “These new labs finally give us the space to advance research, product development, and production side by side,” Femtum co-founder and CTO Simon Duval said in a statement. “Our teams can now go from idea to prototype, and from prototype to a laser delivered to a customer, under one roof. It is the culmination of work that began at Université Laval, and the start of a new commercial chapter.”
The context: This expansion was enabled by the $16-million CAD equity Series A round and the nearly $2-million federal repayable contribution that Femtum secured earlier this year.
Femtum has developed a flagship laser cleaning and trimming solution for manufacturers behind the specialized chips that next-generation data centres increasingly require. Femtum’s tech helps these firms produce silicon photonic chips, which carry information using light rather than electricity, and can process data at higher speeds using less energy, making them particularly useful for AI data centres. Femtum claims its offerings can help chipmakers improve the yield of their production lines and reduce the energy their semiconductors consume.
Final thought: Femtum says this factory will enable it to supply some of the world’s most advanced semiconductor manufacturers, including firms across Asia and the United States. The nearly 40-person startup is currently staffing up with seven open roles and plans to surpass 50 employees by 2027 as it looks to meet international demand.
Feature image courtesy Femtum.