After two days of online pitches in May by semifinalists of Startups for Sustainable Semiconductors, an initiative organized by corporate venture capitalists to spur green technology innovation, we’re excited to announce that the program’s organizing committee has selected nine finalists. These companies have been invited to present at the Sustainability Pavilion during the Startups for Sustainable Semiconductors session at SEMICON West 2024 on Wednesday, July 10th.
Part of the SEMI sustainability programming at the exhibition and conferences, the session will also feature a discussion on how startup companies can work with large companies to drive breakthroughs in sustainability. The fireside chat will feature Katherine Dei Cas, Executive Vice President, Global Head of Delivery Systems and Services at EMD Electronics, and Ted Jeffries, Senior Director for Supply Chain Responsibility and Environmental and Operational Sourcing at Intel.
Additionally, Linda Molnar, Program Director for the NSF Convergence Accelerator Program in the new Technology, Innovations, and Partnerships (TIP) Directorate at the U.S. National Science Foundation, will present on how startups can engage with the U.S. government on research and other projects.
Many thanks to all of the startups that applied to this year’s Startups for Sustainable Semiconductors program for presenting their innovative solutions. We are eager for the finalists to take the stage at SEMICON West 2024 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco to share their innovations.
2024 Finalists – Startups for Sustainable Semiconductors
 | Airgorithm has designed a real-time fluorinated gas sensor from novel, nano-sensing material, using an optimized wavelength sensor design. This sensor can detect all semiconductor gases of interest, has sensitivity towards ppb levels, at a lower footprint and cost than other proposals. |
 | Aquagga builds PFAS destruction systems that leverage the hydrothermal alkaline treatment (HALT) process to destroy all types of PFAS in liquid matrices. EPA award-winning and patented technology, with over a dozen government and industrial clients. |
 | Axine Water Technologies Inc offers electrochemical oxidation technology for industrial wastewater treatment-as-a-service with over 130,000 hours of operating experience. Axine offers cost-effective complete destruction of PFAS, targeting both long- and short-chain PFAS. |
 | Boston Materials uses reclaimed carbon fibers and a vertical fiber alignment process to produce polymer-, solder- and liquid metal-based Thermal Interface Materials (TIMs) that significantly reduce thermal resistance (<5 mm2-K/W) while ensuring long-term reliability. |
 | Crystal Sonic Lift-off revolutionizes harnesses sound energy to separate devices or thin epi-layers from substrates, ensuring no material loss and facilitating substrate re-use. The primary focus is on wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductors such as SiC, GaN, AlN. |
 | Fluorok brings the circular economy to fluorochemical production via a low-cost, safe and sustainable process transforming semiconductor waste products, such as HF-derived synthetic calcium fluoride, into fluorochemicals like Li-ion batteries or agrochemicals. |
 | Freshean is building a nano-engineered sorbent-based CO2 direct air capture (DAC) technology with 10x savings in cost and scale to offset carbon footprint and provide up to 40% reduction in HVAC energy consumption and a clean and healthy air environment. |
 | GREEN14 uses hydrogen plasma to reduce oxygen and impurities from quartz to produce high purity silicon and silane gas that is substantially greener and cheaper than incumbent technology. |
| Sepure Technologies Ltd has developed a method of fabricating novel, scalable, and highly-efficient organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN) membranes for chemical separation processes, which partition chemicals at the molecular scale, and are an environment-friendly alternative to distillation or incineration methods. |
Jen Ard is Managing Director at Intel Capital, a Startups for Sustainable Semiconductors sponsor.
Learn more about the SEMI Startups for Sustainable Semiconductors.