TDK Ventures, a subsidiary of TDK Corp., has recently invested in Singaporean tech disruptor Silicon Box, known for its innovative semiconductor chiplet packaging design and fabrication capabilities which promise improved standards in performance and scalability. The company was founded by industry leaders in semiconductor design and packaging technologies, including Dr. Sehat Sutardja and Weili Dai, who were co-founders of Marvell, along with co-founder and CEO Dr. Byung Joon (BJ) Han, who previously served as CEO of STATS ChipPAC. Collectively, Dr. Sutardja and Dr. Han hold over 800 US patents. TDK Ventures aims to collaborate with this accomplished team to expedite the introduction of the latest semiconductor packaging innovations to the market through Silicon Box.
This partnership is particularly significant due to the current challenges in the semiconductor industry. The industry is facing issues with energy efficiency and performance falling behind the increasing demands for computing volume, particularly with the rapid expansion of machine learning, big data, and artificial intelligence (including generative AI). Traditional semiconductor chips are encountering limitations in scalability and are constrained by conventional packaging methods, which result in significant energy costs associated with data movement between chips. Furthermore, the development and manufacturing costs for chip designers have become prohibitive, except for well-funded players.
Nicolas Sauvage, President of TDK Ventures, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, acknowledging Silicon Box's exceptional chiplet design and its impact on the industry. He highlighted the company's established concept in a 750,000 square foot facility to support production, emphasizing TDK Ventures' commitment to supporting Silicon Box for a positive global influence.