NexWafe servicing innovation advancement after closing Series C funding round

• Solar wafer manufacturer NexWafe has finished its Series C financial investment round, with proceeds earmarked for product and also innovation growth on prototype lines in Germany.

Having actually safeguarded the backing of Indian empire Reliance Industries in the very first phase of the funding round last year, NexWafe nabbed an extra EUR7 million (US$ 7.5 million) in the second phase, taking the total raised in the round to EUR39 million.

The second close was led by an unidentified German family members office and included participation from investment group Ecosummit.

Germany-based NexWafe is establishing monocrystalline silicon wafers grown straight from a feedstock gas via its EpiWafer process, which avoids intermediate steps such as polysilicon production and also ingot pulling.

"NexWafe is speeding up the renewable resource transition with a lot more efficient, reduced cost, greener solar wafer modern technology for photovoltaic or pv manufacturers globally," claimed Davor Sutija, Chief Executive Officer of NexWafe, that lately informed PV Tech Premium the company is wanting to certify its technology to partners around the world.

Presently running a prototype line, NexWafe will certainly begin building this year on a pilot center in Bitterfeld, Germany, that is scheduled to begin operations in 2023 prior to ramping up to around 500MW of production in 2024, as the firm intends to demonstrate the scalability of its EpiWafer process.

Via the Series C round, Reliance Industries has secured access to NexWafe's innovation and also now intends to develop large-scale wafer production centers in India using its processes.

Other investors in the initial close of the funding round included InnoEnergy, HEMMA Group, Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, among others.

Executives from Reliance Industries, Canadian Solar and Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures were chosen to NexWafe's board earlier this year.