Berlin-based start-up NextGO Epi secures €2 million for gallium oxide wafers
The semiconductor material could reduce electric car charging times from 60 to 10 minutes and is ten times more energy-efficient than silicon carbide
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NextGO Epi, a Berlin-based deep tech startup spun off from Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung (IKZ), producing Gallium Oxide epitaxial wafers for next- generation power electronics, has secured a €2 million pre-seed funding round. The company has developed a process producing a breakthrough semiconductor material that could reduce EV charging times from 60 to just 10 minutes, while reducing power semiconductor manufacturing costs by up to 75%.
NextGO Epi is the only European company producing Gallium Oxide epitaxial wafers at industrial quality up to 4 inches, a semiconductor material that forms the electrically active layer of the next generation of power semiconductor devices. Gallium Oxide-based electrical devices can withstand higher voltages and are more efficient than the currently used Silicon Carbide or Gallium Nitride. The company’s technology sits at the heart of every electricity transmission: from EV charging stations and renewable energy inverters to AI data centers and missile tracking systems.
The pre-seed round was led by Vireo Ventures, with participation from Ultratech Capital Partners, IBB Ventures, and angel investor Boris Habets. Just one week after the European Commission unveiled Chips Act 2.0, its most ambitious push yet for semiconductor sovereignty, the round marks the first institutional backing for Europe’s only producer of Gallium Oxide epiwafers. The fresh capital will accelerate product development, grow the team, and strengthen the company’s commercial presence across Europe and global markets.
“Ta-Shun and his team at NextGO Epi have a fantastic future ahead of them. They combine deep technical expertise with advanced manufacturing capabilities to produce Gallium Oxide semiconductors that will help revolutionize next- generation electronics. We are delighted to back them at the start of their journey to becoming the go-to supplier of this increasingly important capability,” said Damian Perl, Founder and General Partner of Ultratech Capital Partners.
The founding team brings more than 10 years of combined experience in Gallium Oxide research and epitaxy, underpinned by 2 international patents and 30+ scientific publications. The company is further supported by Dr. Jochen Linck, former COO of Aixtron, who has joined as Operating Partner to help guide NextGO Epi’s growth and commercial scale-up.
“Gallium oxide is to power electronics what silicon was to compute, and Europe should own that value chain,” said Dr. Ta-Shun Chou, CEO and co-founder of NextGO Epi. “We’re building the material layer that makes the next energy revolution possible, and we’re building it in Europe.” Stephan Schulze, Investment Director at IBB Ventures, added: “NextGO Epi is commercializing a technology that is unique on the continent. Developed in Berlin and rooted in the city’s strong research ecosystem and decades of semiconductor expertise, the company is well-positioned to become a key European supplier of Gallium Oxide epiwafers.”
The chip Europe cannot afford to import
Brussels’ new Chips Act 2.0, unveiled in June, explicitly targets to reduce Europe’s overdependence on Asian and US suppliers for the semiconductor materials that power EVs, AI servers, and the clean energy grid. NextGO Epi is precisely the kind of company the policy is designed to create, building the foundational supply chain Europe needs to lead the next wave of energy and mobility transition.
Gallium Oxide is a semiconductor material that comes with a major efficiency improvement over the currently used Silicon Carbide: it is 10x more power- efficient, handles up to 6x higher voltage density, and can be produced for up to 75% less. NextGO-Epi´s three founder team, all PhDs (Dr. Ta-Shun Chou, Dr. Andreas Popp, and Dr. Andreas Fiedler), have spent over a decade developing defect-free industrial quality Gallium Oxide with strong support from IKZ. “IKZ´s science & technology program is committed to develop and enable the supply of crystals for electronics & photonics with highest quality. In case of our start-up company NextGO Epi, I am very happy to state that the highest quality does not only refer to the Gallium oxide product but equally to the team of founders”, states IKZ Director Prof. Dr. Thomas Schroeder.
From Lab to Production: Already Delivering to Customers
The company is already in production, generating revenue, and serving customers across three continents. The product involves growing epitaxial Gallium Oxide, often called the “epi layer,” onto a wafer substrate to form the electrically active part of a high-power semiconductor device. NextGO Epi is the only European company producing this layer in Gallium Oxide at the quality level industrial customers require.
The most immediate application is EV charging. An EV charging station containing devices built with NextGO Epi’s product could charge a vehicle fully in 10 minutes, down from today’s 60, and reliably in winter when lithium batteries typically perform worst. Beyond EVs, the same material improves the efficiency of renewable energy inverters, AI data centre power supplies, grid transformers, and defense systems.
“Ultra-wide-bandgap semiconductors are emerging as a critical enabling technology for next-generation high-voltage power electronics, and Gallium Oxide leads that field. No other material can match its performance envelope,” shared Mischa Wetzel, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Vireo Ventures. “What sets NextGO Epi apart is that they're not a research project: they're already in production, already delivering to customers, and virtually nobody else in the world can do what they do. Their position, built on years of world-class research at IKZ, makes them a uniquely strong candidate to become a key supplier to this industry."
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