Solar wafer producer NexWafe has completed its Series C investment round, with proceeds earmarked for product and technology development on prototype lines in Germany.
Having secured the backing of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries in the first phase of the funding round last year, NexWafe bagged an additional €7 million (US$7.5 million) in the second phase, taking the total raised in the round to €39 million.
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The second close was led by an unidentified German family office and included participation from investment group Ecosummit.
Germany-based NexWafe is developing monocrystalline silicon wafers grown directly from a feedstock gas through its EpiWafer process, which avoids intermediate steps such as polysilicon production and ingot pulling.
“NexWafe is accelerating the renewable energy transition with more efficient, lower cost, greener solar wafer technology for photovoltaic manufacturers globally,” said Davor Sutija, CEO of NexWafe, who recently told PV Tech Premium the company is looking to license its technology to partners globally.
Currently operating a prototype line, NexWafe will begin construction this year on a pilot facility in Bitterfeld, Germany, that is scheduled to begin operations in 2023 before ramping up to around 500MW of production in 2024, as the firm aims to demonstrate the scalability of its EpiWafer process.
Through the Series C round, Reliance Industries has secured access to NexWafe’s technology and now plans to build large-scale wafer manufacturing facilities in India using its processes.
Other investors in the first close of the funding round included InnoEnergy, HEMMA Group, Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, among others.
Executives from Reliance Industries, Canadian Solar and Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures were elected to NexWafe’s board earlier this year.