An Albuquerque-based firm that makes components used in semiconductor fabrication announced Wednesday it closed a $30 million round, the largest for a New Mexico company so far this year.
Walden Catalyst Ventures, a tech-focused investment firm based in San Francisco, led 3D Glass Solutions' Series C financing round — a later-stage round of funding typically focused on providing money to help companies scale.
Existing investors including Intel Capital and Lockheed Martin Ventures joined the round, and the Albuquerque company pulled in a few new investments from Applied Ventures LLC, Cambium Capital and Mesh Cooperative Ventures, according to a news release.
3D Glass Solutions plans to use the money to increase its production and accelerate product development, according to a statement from the company's President and CEO Babu Mandava.
"Our technology and products are proving to be both differentiated and scalable, as evidenced by the ongoing increase in revenue and momentum we are seeing with our customers," he said in the statement.
3D Glass Solutions' product lines include radio frequency discrete components, photonics and custom design and fabrication. Those products are targeted at aerospace, 5G handsets and infrastructure and military avionics industries.
Its manufacturing processes use photosensitive glass ceramic wafers that are similar in size to semiconductor silicon wafers, according to the company's website. Mandava told Albuquerque Business First in an emailed statement that "the new funding will enable the company to increase our fabrication capacity to more than 24,000 wafers per year."
Lip-Bu Tan, the founding managing partner of Walden Catalyst Ventures, will sit on 3D Glass Solutions' board of directors alongside Mandava, Intel Capital Managing Director Dave Flanagan, Lockheed Martin Ventures Investment Manager Jeff Cunningham and 3D Glass Solutions' founder and Chief Technology Officer Jeb Flemming.
"With the successful closing of its Series C round, we believe that [3D Glass Solutions] has reached an inflection point, and we are excited to witness the Company's growth strategy come to fruition," Tan said in a statement. "The funds from this round will be instrumental in expanding the Company's manufacturing capacity and fueling future growth plans to support customer demand."
Founded in 2005, 3D Glass Solutions is headquartered at 5601 Balloon Fiesta Pkwy. NE. Mandava said the company has around 60 employees in Albuquerque and is hiring for "a number of open positions in Albuquerque, New Mexico across engineering, technicians and more."
It reported a $20 million round in November 2021, led by Intel Capital, and closed another $12 million round in July 2019, led by Nagase & Co. Ltd.
The state of New Mexico has supported 3D Glass Solutions with some money, too. The company received $2 million in Local Economic Development Act funding from the New Mexico Economic Development Department in 2018 to go toward hiring and headquarters expansion.
