Spin Transfer Technologies Raises $70 Million After $36 Million in 2012

Spin Transfer Technologies, Inc. (STT), developer of Orthogonal Spin Transfer Magneto-Resistive Random Access Memory technology (OST-MRAM), has raised $70 million to accelerate commercial development.

STT’s patented OST-MRAM technology is an innovation in the field of spin-transfer-based MRAM devices by enabling faster switching speeds, lower power operation, reduced manufactured device cost and scalability to smaller lithographic dimensions. Application areas can potentially address large parts of the semiconductor market – in particular, the standalone memory markets and the embedded memory market in logic, microprocessors/microcontrollers and analog integrated circuits.

The company believes that OST-MRAM has the potential to replace large segments of the flash, SRAM and DRAM markets, which collectively had a combined estimated value of $60 billion a year worldwide in 2013.

“We are delighted to announce a successful funding round. These proceeds will enable STT to accelerate the development and commercialization of our proprietary, next-generation technology, putting us in an excellent position to impact the sizeable market segments that the company aims to serve,” said Barry Hoberman, CEO, STT.

The company recently completed its initial phase of integration of magnetic and CMOS wafer technologies, a milestone that demonstrates the technology’s capability to operate in memory arrays with existing fabrication processing standards in the industry.

The functional memory array demonstration lifted investor enthusiasm for the current financing, the proceeds of which will be used to procure capital equipment and other manufacturing-related infrastructure; strengthen the company’s product development, sales and operations teams; secure outsourced services; and expand the intellectual property portfolio.

Woodford Investment Management LLP led this round of financing, demonstrating its continued support for the commercialization model of academic research pioneered in the U.S. by Allied Minds plc, STT’s parent holding company. In addition, Invesco Asset Management increased its stake and maintains its position as the largest institutional investor in the Fremont, CA-based company. SandAire Limited, a private wealth investment fund in London, joined the investor group with its participation in the financing.

“Allied Minds is extremely pleased with the technical and commercial progress of STT to date. We believe this technology has the potential to revolutionize the field of computer memory, and we are gratified by the strong commitment from world-class institutional investors who are participating in this funding round,” said Chris Silva, CEO, Allied Minds.

STT’s technology was originally developed from research conducted in the laboratory of Professor Andrew Kent at New York University. The company was formed and capitalized by Boston-based Allied Minds in 2007, and first attracted direct institutional investment in 2012 in a financing led by Invesco.

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Spin Transfer Technologies Raises $36 Million in Series A
It develops orthogonal spin transfer MRAM.