ROTTERDAM, the Netherlands, July 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nearfield Instruments, the developer of state-of-the art Metrology & Inspection (M&I) solutions for the semiconductor manufacturing industry, today announced the successful closure of a €135 million Series-C funding round. The oversubscribed funding round is led by two new major investors, Walden Catalyst, an industry leading US venture capital firm helping the next generation of category-defining businesses in deep-tech, and Temasek, a global investor that also looks into opportunities in emerging technologies to solve complex and high impact challenges, and address market inflections. M&G Investments, a leading global asset manager, through its Catalyst strategy, is acting as a co-investor. The success of this round is further underscored by the participation of existing investors Innovation Industries, Invest-NL, and ING. The growing complexities in advanced semiconductor manufacturing, driven by the surge in demand for higher performing and lower energy consuming chips, are addressed by Nearfield's innovative process control solutions. These include the QUADRA 3D metrology system that provides non-destructive, high- throughput, and high-resolution metrology capabilities. Nearfield is deeply engaged with most majorchip manufacturers globally, and QUADRA is fully validated and deployed in high-volume manufacturing. Dr. Hamed Sadeghian, Co-Founder and CEO of Nearfield Instruments: "We are thrilled that Nearfield's' QUADRA 3D metrology system has been fully integrated into the first major high-volume semiconductor manufacturing fab. This milestone solidifies our pioneering role in advancing critical metrology for leading-edge nodes. With significant contributions from investment leaders, we are well positioned to meet the growing demand for Metrology & Inspection in the coming decade. This funding will enable us to ramp up production capacity, expand our product portfolio, and strengthen our position as a keyplayer in the semiconductor equipment industry." The funding round is the second largest capital ...