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WEEBIT NANO LTD — Capital/Financing Update 2021
Sep 8, 2021
66042_rns_2021-09-08_11f9fee4-41f7-48c5-b447-bef82fdaf704.pdf
Capital/Financing Update
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Weebit signs first commercial deal to take its ReRAM technology to volume production with US-based SkyWater
9 September 2021 – Weebit Nano Ltd ( ASX: WBT ) a leading developer of next-generation semiconductor memory technologies, is pleased to announce that it has entered into its first commercial deal, with a subsidiary of semiconductor foundry SkyWater Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: SKYT; US$1.3 billion market capitalisation[1] ).
Weebit’s first commercial deal is a critical milestone for the Company, providing commercial validation of Weebit’s ReRAM technology and commencing the growth trajectory for the Company’s cuttingedge technology onto customers’ chips.
SkyWater is a US-based and US-owned, US Department of Defense accredited pure play technology foundry, specialising in advanced innovation engineering services and volume manufacturing of a wide variety of differentiated integrated circuits (ICs). SkyWater supports customers developing and manufacturing ICs in various markets including aerospace and defense, automotive, computing and cloud, consumer, industrial, and medical. SkyWater is dedicating a significant amount of time and resources to support commercialisation of Weebit’s technology.
The Company’s agreement with SkyWater will take Weebit’s innovative ReRAM technology to volume production via a license to SkyWater to manufacture customer designs containing Weebit’s technology, once the technology has been qualified in SkyWater’s production fab. Weebit and SkyWater will also cooperate in marketing and sales activities. The partnership includes both technology transfer and qualification, and licensing agreements.
Technology transfer and qualification agreement
Under the technology transfer and qualification agreement, Weebit and SkyWater will immediately cooperate in transferring Weebit’s embedded ReRAM technology to SkyWater’s production fab and then continue to qualify it, aiming for volume production by the end of 2022. Weebit will participate in the cost of this transfer, which is not expected to be material and is provided for within existing cashflow.
Technology licensing agreement
Under the technology licensing agreement, SkyWater receives a non-exclusive license to Weebit’s ReRAM technology, and will pay Weebit a license fee that is not material for Weebit based on the achievement of agreed upon milestones. SkyWater intends to add Weebit’s qualified memory module (and later additional variants of it) to its 130nm Process Design Kit (PDK)[2] .
1 SkyWater market capitalisation as at 7 September 2021.
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Contact
Office: +972-9-7797832 [email protected] www.weebit-nano.com
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The technology licensing agreement is for SkyWater to manufacture designs from customers worldwide in their Minnesota fab. It has a minimum term of six years with 12 month renewals after the seventh year, and includes customary termination events.
Customers will have the option of using the standard modules in the PDK or have customised modules tailored for their needs. In either case, Weebit will receive license fees and royalties based on production volumes, with these license fees and royalties determined by Weebit when delivering the relevant modules to customers and may differ for each module.
The agreements currently cover SkyWater’s 130nm Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) process, which is a sweet spot for a broad range of applications such as analog, power management, automotive and IoT designs, where Weebit’s ReRAM technology provides significant competitive advantages, including better retention and endurance than existing embedded Flash technology.
Coby Hanoch, CEO of Weebit Nano, said : “Weebit’s first commercial deal is a major milestone for our Company, providing validation of our innovative technology. It enables us to bring Weebit’s cuttingedge ReRAM technology to volume production by offering it to SkyWater’s extensive customer base, in addition to customers Weebit will sign up and bring to SkyWater, putting us firmly on the path of initial and ongoing revenues.
“Weebit’s next-generation memory technology has been developed in collaboration with Leti. SkyWater is the ideal first commercial partner for Weebit. It is a US-owned Trusted Supplier in the microelectronics industry, with our ReRAM aligning with their focus on future technologies.
“SkyWater’s and Weebit’s customers will be able to include our ReRAM within new product designs they are developing and manufacturing. We look forward to collaborating with SkyWater, starting immediately with the transfer of our technology to their US-based production fab.”
The economic materiality of this agreement is not known at this time due to the contingent nature of the license fees and royalties, as they depend on the number of customers who sign up to use Weebit’s technology and on the number of chips those customers produce using Weebit’s technology. However, Weebit views this commercial agreement as strategically important given SkyWater’s position in the US semiconductor industry, and the commercial validation it provides for Weebit’s cutting-edge ReRAM technology.
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This announcement has been authorised for release by the Board of Weebit Nano Limited.
2 A PDK is a library of basic components that are technically and geometrically represented to enable chip designers to design a wide variety of integrated circuits (ICs) using the components of a particular production fab. It contains the data required for the different tools used during the design process.
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Contact
Office: +972-9-7797832 [email protected] www.weebit-nano.com
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“Meet the Chair and CEO” investor event today at 2:30pm AEST
David Perlmutter (Chair) and Coby Hanoch (CEO) will be participating in Market Eye’s “Meet the Chair and CEO” series with an interview and Q&A session to be held today at 2:30pm AEST. To participate, please register at:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_o6cGJUnSQvmlnnPA0VRISQ
For further information please contact:
Investors
Eric Kuret, Market Eye P: +61 417 311 335 E: [email protected]
Media – Australia
Tristan Everett, Market Eye P: +61 403 789 096 E: [email protected]
Media – US
Jen Bernier-Santarini, Weebit Nano P: +1 650-336-4222 E: [email protected]
About Weebit Nano Limited
Weebit Nano Ltd. is a leading developer of next-generation semiconductor memory technology. The company’s ground-breaking Resistive RAM (ReRAM) addresses the growing need for significantly higher performance and lower power memory solutions in a range of new electronic products such as Internet of Things (IoT) devices, smartphones, robotics, autonomous vehicles, 5G communications and artificial intelligence.
Weebit’s ReRAM allows semiconductor memory elements to be significantly faster, less expensive, more reliable and more energy efficient than those using existing Flash memory solutions. Because it is based on fab-friendly materials, the technology can be quickly and easily integrated with existing flows and processes, without the need for special equipment or large investments.
See: www.weebit-nano.com or follow us on https://twitter.com/WeebitNano
Weebit Nano and the Weebit Nano logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Weebit Nano Ltd. in the United States and other countries. Other company, product, and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.
Contact Office: +972-9-7797832 [email protected] www.weebit-nano.com