Singapore startup Nexstrom raises $12M to scale 2D semiconductor production for fabs

Singapore-based semiconductor startup Nexstrom announced a $12 million seed financing on Tuesday, bringing its total capital raised to $15 million. The funding will be used to advance its “North Star” system, which is designed to grow ultra-thin transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) materials directly on 300 mm (12-inch) wafers used in modern chip manufacturing. By enabling a new class of two-dimensional semiconductors, Nexstrom hopes to give chipmakers a path to continue shrinking transistor dimensions after silicon scaling reaches physical limits.

TMDs belong to a broader family of so-called 2D materials that are only a few atomic layers thick. Their extreme thinness promises reduced leakage, lower power loss and less heat generation compared with conventional silicon transistors. Industry leaders such as TSMC, Intel and the European research institute IMEC have already demonstrated prototype 2D-material transistors in 300 mm integration processes. Nexstrom’s approach differs in that it focuses on the upstream challenge of producing uniform TMD layers at wafer scale, a step that has remained difficult outside of laboratory settings.

The company’s technology draws on research by co-founder and chief scientist Lance Li, who led post-silicon electronics work at TSMC and has been studying 2D materials since 2012. Li explained that while high-quality 2D films can be fabricated in small-scale experiments, scaling those results to full-size wafers has been a persistent gap. Nexstrom’s North Star system is built to bridge that gap by delivering consistent material quality across the entire wafer surface.

Investors in the seed round include Xora Innovation, Foothill Ventures and SEEDS. The round adds $12 million to the $3 million previously raised, bringing total funding to $15 million. Rather than positioning itself as a direct competitor to established fabs, Nexstrom plans to sell its equipment or partner with chipmakers such as TSMC, Samsung and Intel. The startup said several industry players are already testing samples of its wafers and materials, though it did not disclose their identities.

According to CEO Phoebe Tan, the company has already installed a 12-inch system that has demonstrated material results on full-size wafers. Nexstrom has systematically scaled its process from 2-inch to 6-inch substrates and expects to complete development of 8-inch and 12-inch capability by the end of October. The new capital will fund further equipment refinement, tighter process control, expanded measurement capabilities, hiring of additional engineers and support for qualification programs with prospective customers.

Nexstrom projects that its equipment will be ready for commercial production between 2030 and 2035. Achieving that timeline will require solving remaining uniformity and yield challenges, as well as convincing major fabs to adopt a new material stack. If successful, the technology could extend Moore’s Law for another decade, offering founders and investors a fresh frontier in semiconductor innovation. The coming years will reveal whether Nexstrom’s scaling approach can meet the rigorous demands of high-volume chip manufacturing and reshape the economics of next-generation processors.