Nantero Expands NRAM Product Development, Signs New Customers

WOBURN, Mass., April 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Nantero Inc., the nanotechnology company developing next-generation memory using carbon nanotubes, today announced that it has expanded product development with a wide range of new and existing customers. Leveraging NRAM's unique combination of DRAM-like speed, nonvolatility and low cost, the products currently under development include the following:  

• A multi-Gb DDR4-compatible nonvolatile standalone memory product with speed comparable to DRAM and a lower price/GB than DRAM
• A standalone chip designed as a cache for SSDs or HDDs which removes the need for battery backup and allows dramatic expansion of cache size, substantially speeding up the drive
• A variety of embedded memory offerings, including a highly scalable embedded nonvolatile memory that can scale to 5nm in size and operate at DRAM-like speeds, and operates under very high temperature, making it ideal for automotive applications, as well as IOT

As Nantero engages in this aggressive product development with multiple partners, it has received investment from eight well-known strategic investors. Five of those were participants in Nantero's most-recent strategic round, with a total of $29.7 million in investment received. The strategic investors in Nantero include the following:

• Dell Technologies Capital, the venture capital arm of Dell Technologies, which is one of the world's five largest semiconductor buyers.
• Cisco Investments, the venture capital arm of Cisco, which is a worldwide leader in technology.
• Kingston Technology Corporation, the world's largest independent manufacturer of memory products.
• CFT Capital, one of China's leading semiconductor investment firms, which was incorporated by SMIC, mainland China's most advanced pure play semiconductor foundry, and a senior investment team along with other shareholders. The most recent fund was funded by the China National IC Fund, SMIC and a financial institution. 
• Three strategic investors not disclosed at this time, all of which are leading global companies in the semiconductor industry.
• Schlumberger, the world's leading provider of technology for reservoir characterization, drilling, production, and processing to the oil and gas industry.

"Having global leaders such as Cisco Investments and Dell Technologies Capital invest in Nantero highlights the potential of our next generation NRAM technology," said Greg Schmergel, Co-Founder & CEO of Nantero. "No other memory combines DRAM-like speed, low power, nonvolatility and reasonable manufacturing costs, along with excellent temperature and radiation stability. We are pleased to see the industry also recognizing these significant competitive advantages as evidenced by these investors and our continually growing customer base."

Nantero currently has more than a dozen partners and customers in the consumer electronics, enterprise systems, and semiconductor industries actively working on NRAM®. Fujitsu Semiconductor and Mie Fujitsu Semiconductor will be the first customer to bring NRAM to market in 2019, followed by other companies when they are ready to announce. Nantero also recently set up an office and wholly-foreign-owned-entity (WFOE) in Beijing, China, as part of its commitment to grow and expand its business in China with both Chinese customers and manufacturers.

This new funding will enable Nantero to support the many customers currently bringing multiple products into the market, while also enabling new customers to begin development. The recent financing round brings the total invested in Nantero to date to over $120 million. 

About Nantero
Nantero is a nanotechnology company using carbon nanotubes for the development of next-generation semiconductor products. Nantero's main focus is the commercial introduction of NRAM ? a high-density high-speed nonvolatile random access storage device. The applications for the nonvolatile RAM Nantero is developing include smartphones, tablets, enterprise systems, notebook and desktop computers, as well as applications in the automotive and industrial arena. NRAMtm can be manufactured for both standalone and embedded memory applications. Nantero is also working with licensees on the development of additional applications of Nantero's core nanotube-based technology. For more information on Nantero, Inc. please visit www.nantero.com, follow Nantero at Twitter @nantero, or email [email protected].

For More Information:
Kelly Karr
Nantero Public Relations
408-718-9350
[email protected]

Copyright 2018 Nantero, Inc. All rights reserved. Nantero, NRAM, and the Nantero logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Nantero, Inc.

SOURCE Nantero