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Pierre-Yves Lesaicherre, CEO of Finwave Semiconductor, describes how the company’s gallium nitride on silicon (GaN-on-Si) technology is poised to upend the RF front-end landscape across both wireless infrastructure and mobile devices. Fresh off an $8.2 million funding round led by Fine Structure Ventures, Engine Ventures, and Safar Partners—with strategic backing from GlobalFoundries—Finwave aims to commercialize its proprietary GaN-on-Si devices as power-efficient, lower-cost alternatives to legacy GaAs and GaN-on-SiC solutions.
Lesaicherre explains that GaN-on-Si is emerging at the perfect time, as frequencies push higher for 5G Advanced and 6G, and network architectures shift toward distributed massive MIMO with smaller antennas and lower per-antenna power requirements. Unlike expensive GaN-on-SiC solutions, Finwave’s GaN-on-Si technology can be manufactured on 6- and 8-inch wafers, enabling broader scalability and affordability. The company is already shipping RF switches co-developed with a Taiwan partner, with power amplifiers and a novel MISFET architecture targeting mobile devices to follow later this year.
With over a decade of R&D, Finwave holds a strong IP position across epitaxial structures, process technologies, and device architectures. Lesaicherre noted that the company’s partnership with GlobalFoundries is key to its commercialization strategy, particularly for bringing its GaN-on-Si MISFET technology into high-volume smartphone markets. “We see the next two to three years as a breakthrough period for GaN-on-silicon,” he said. “It’s the convergence of new architectures and a matured technology base.”
Key Points:
• Finwave raised $8.2M from Fine Structure Ventures, Engine Ventures, Safar Partners, and GlobalFoundries.
• GaN-on-Si targets both infrastructure (displacing GaN-on-SiC) and smartphones (replacing GaAs).
• Early products include RF switches, with power amplifiers and MISFETs on roadmap.
• Finwave’s technology enables cost-effective manufacturing on 6- and 8-inch silicon wafers.
• Partnership with GlobalFoundries supports commercialization and production scale-up.
• Architectural shifts to lower per-antenna power in massive MIMO systems align with Finwave’s efficiency and scalability.
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