WATERVLIET, NY, September 28, 2004 - Crystal IS, Inc., the leading supplier of ultra-low defect density native aluminum nitride (AlN) single crystal substrates, closed on $5M of Series A round venture funding. The investor syndicate includes ARCH Venture Partners, JVP, 3i, Harris & Harris Group, Inc., and local investor Walt Robb. As a result of the financing, Keith Crandell from ARCH, Zeljka Matutinovic from JVP and Sean Brownlee from 3i will join the company’s board of Directors. Crystal IS’ mission is to leverage its leadership position in native AlN substrate technology to drive improvements in current devices and development of new high performance III-nitride semiconductor device applications. Nitride crystal substrates are used in stoplights, military applications, biomedical, information technology, wireless communication, display lighting, and future DVD and high power microwave devices.  The III-nitride device market is expected to grow to over $25B within the next decade, according to leading market analysts. 

"We have assembled an exceptional technical team that has worked tirelessly to grow our company and the potential for native aluminum nitride based commercial applications.  This investment leverages our success to date and will help us to accelerate our technology and product roadmaps, expand our substrate production capacity and quality, and further drive our collaborative device development activities,” said Leo Schowalter, president and CEO.

Crystal IS was founded in 1997 by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) physics professors Glen Slack and Leo Schowalter. The company is located in the RPI Incubator Center, which is well known for its technical services, support, and success rate for startup companies. Albany NanoTech at the University at Albany has also provided Crystal IS with strategic assistance including access to downstream semiconductor materials processing capabilities.  Crystal IS has a strong base of academic, corporate, and government support for its technology.  

Crystal IS’ chief scientist Glen Slack, known in the community as the Father of crystalline AlN, offered, “It is great to see this technology develop to the point where we are poised to make a significant impact on commercial markets.  This investment will help us to address our many opportunities more vigorously and to succeed more rapidly.”

About Crystal IS
Crystal IS, Inc., is the market leader in the commercialization of native single-crystal AlN substrates for the cost-effective production of high performance III-nitride electronics and optoelectronics.  The III-nitride device market is expected to grow to $4.5 billion by 2007. For more information on Crystal IS, contact Randy Gronewold at (518) 276 3325 or visit the company's website at www.Crystal-IS.com.