Syenta was spun out of the Australian National University and is now based in Sydney. It was co-founded by CEO Dr Jekaterina Viktorova and CTO Ben Wilkinson, among others. They have developed a process called Localised Electrochemical Manufacturing.
In plain English
Syenta can build sub-micron chip connections without needing a new fab. That matters because the biggest bottleneck in AI right now is not raw compute. It is how chips connect to each other.
The raise
A $37 million Series A, taking total funding to $51 million. It was co-led by Playground Global in Silicon Valley and the National Reconstruction Fund. Playground’s general partner is Pat Gelsinger, the former CEO of Intel. He joined Syenta’s board.
The investor list
- Blackbird
- In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s venture arm
- Singapore’s SGInnovate
What’s next
Syenta is opening a US base in Arizona, where much of America’s new chip manufacturing is being built.
My read
From an ANU research lab to the middle of the chip war. The next chip giant might be Australian.