Advanced materials tech startup Arieca raises $6.5M Series A to scale-up manufacturing of its Liquid Metal-based thermal interface material

The semiconductor industry is currently facing acute heat and power issues. Miniaturization has led to increasing in the number of transistors on a single chip. However, as transistors become smaller, problems with heat dissipation and power consumption. That’s why one tech startup is on a mission to address this problem with its Liquid Metal-based thermal interface material.

Enter Arieca, a Pittsburg, PA-based advanced materials startup that’s developing Liquid Metal-based thermal interface materials (TIMs) to give the designers the performance of liquid metals with the ease of manufacturing thermal greases. Arieca is a venture capital-funded spin-out of Carnegie Mellon University.

The startup is pushing the boundaries of materials functionalities in the most demanding applications. According to information on its website, Arieca’s proprietary liquid metal embedded elastomer (LMEE) technologies allow for unprecedented performances in applications across semiconductor, aerospace, automotive, and healthcare industries.

To further scale up the manufacturing of its Liquid Metal-based thermal interface materials (TIMs), Arieca announced today it has raised $6.5 million in a Series A funding round co-lead by Nissan Chemical Corporation and 412 Venture Fund, with participation from ROHM Co. Ltd., Monozukuri Venture Funds, Mountain State Capital, Innovation Works, and Carnegie Mellon University.

“The semiconductor industry is facing an acute heat problem. Further progress in the manufacturing of microprocessors with node sizes of 7nm, 4nm and even lower sizes in the roadmap require an acceleration in packaging technologies to compensate for the ever-growing heat densities in the next generation of devices. We, at Arieca, are developing Liquid Metal-based TIMs to give the designers the performance of liquid metals with the ease of manufacturing of thermal greases” said Dr. Navid Kazem, CEO, and Co-Founder at Arieca.

“Arieca’s materials are very promising innovative solutions for the market that will grow significantly in the future. We hope to make a strong cooperative collaboration on top of the Investment in the Company” said Endo Hideyuki Managing Executive Officer, and Head of Planning and Development Division at Nissan Chemical. Ilana Diamond, the general managing partner at 412 Venture added that “we have followed Arieca’s progress since their formation and have been impressed by their progress attracting customers and partners in the semiconductor industry with a large market size. We are delighted to be partnering with a world-class team to help them bring an innovative material solution to a growing market.”

Spun off from Carnegie Mellon University in 2018, Arieca is a high-growth advanced materials start-up that is pushing the boundaries of material functionalities in the most demanding applications. Its patented Liquid Metal Embedded Elastomer (LMEE) technology allows for unprecedented performance in applications across the semiconductor, aerospace, automotive, and healthcare industries.