The Northeast Microelectronics Coalition (NEMC) Hub today announced $1,038,133 in grants to 13 companies through its Powering Regional Opportunities for Prototyping Microelectronics (PROPEL) Manufacturing Program. The program, funded through the federal CHIPS and Science Act, supports microelectronics startups and small companies and help them move microelectronics projects from early-stage concepts through production.
Commercializing promising semiconductor technologies requires significant time and capital investment. The PROPEL Manufacturing Program awards aim to reduce those burdens by reducing development costs and helping to fund the manufacturing, packaging and testing of advanced microelectronics.
“The NEMC Hub plays a critical role in accelerating the development of microelectronics and supporting advanced manufacturing companies in our region,” said Massachusetts Economic Development Secretary Yvonne Hao. “The PROPEL program will empower startups and small businesses to build a stronger semiconductor economy in the Northeast and establish our region as a national leader in microelectronics. I am grateful for the partnership with the federal government, including our congressional delegation for their leadership.”
“The PROPEL Manufacturing Program proposals we received were truly groundbreaking,” said NEMC Hub Director Mark Halfman. “The 13 awardees represent important innovation for the future of microelectronics, and we are excited to support their efforts to bring these devices to market.”
The 13 PROPEL Manufacturing Program awardee companies cover a broad range of microelectronics applications including power electronics, AI hardware, quantum technology and wearable computing.
PROPEL Manufacturing Program Awardees:
Advanced Silicon Group (Lowell, MA) – $66,205
Advanced Silicon Group’s next generation LightSense™ biosensor can simultaneously measure the concentration of many proteins and is fast, simple, inexpensive to use, lowering the barriers for protein sensing.
DeepCharge (Needham, MA) – $75,000
DeepCharge is a pioneering technology company specializing in large-scale wireless charging and device management solutions using innovative microelectronics and AI-driven systems.
Finwave Semiconductor (Waltham, MA) – $100,000
Finwave Semiconductor is shaping the future with innovative transistor designs and breakthrough process technology that unlocks the full potential of Gallium Nitride.
Impact Nano LLC (Lincoln, MA) – $24,701
Impact Nano develops and manufactures advanced materials in the semiconductor, green energy, and automotive industries for use in atomic layer deposition, chemical vapor deposition, and EUV photoresist applications.
Lintrinsic Semiconductors Inc. (Cambridge, MA) – $100,000
Lintrinsic is a fabless semiconductor company using novel switch designs to increase the power handling and switching speed of RF switches using standard semiconductor processes.
Millimeter Wave Systems LLC (Amherst, MA) – $73,237
Millimeter Wave Systems serves commercial, government and academic customers, providing solutions for quantum computing, security sensors, environmental sensors, and wireless communications.
Pison (Boston, MA) – $60,000
Pison is a nontraditional startup at the forefront of developing neural biosensing and sensor fusion-based cognitive health and risk management capabilities in a secure manner for wrist-worn wearables and smartwatches
Plaid Semiconductors (Atlanta, GA) – $100,000
Plaid is developing advanced substrates for AI and chiplet eras of computing, providing significant improvements in bandwidth, latency, and power efficiency over silicon interposers.
Princeton Innotech Inc. (Princeton, NJ) – $100,000
Princeton Innotech Inc is developing high performance lasers for quantum computing.
Quantum Microwave Components (Hingham, MA) – $95,985
Quantum Microwave Components is a manufacturer and a distributor of cryogenic microwave components for superconducting Quantum Computers.
Quantum Network Technologies (Boston, MA) – $94,446
Quantum Network Technologies is developing scalable hardware solutions for quantum device connectivity that seamlessly integrate with existing infrastructure to enable deployable quantum networks.
Sangtera Inc. (Lexington, MA) – $73,559
Sangtera is developing high-accuracy high-throughput tools for semiconductor advanced packaging, utilizing microhydraulic actuator technology to enable high-volume production of 3D chiplet stacked advanced processors.
Zero ASIC Corporation (Cambridge, MA) – $75,000
Zero ASIC is developing a chiplet based ASIC platform that reduces the time and cost barrier to custom silicon by 100X.
The PROPEL Manufacturing program is a first of its kind program that launched earlier this year to provide grant awards to NEMC Hub members, particularly startups and small companies, to offset costs associated with hardware lab-to-fab development. By reducing the capital needed to advance novel microelectronics technologies, this program aims to advance their progress from early concepts to validated devices.
