I have come to learn that the best way to learn something is to do it. No need to ask for permission or wait until you have all the answers. For a while now, I have wanted to do early-stage investing into promising companies. While my check size is relatively small and I invest only on the side, I still thoroughly enjoy finding opportunities to work with world-class entrepreneurs building the next generation of European technology companies.
My first opportunity came with Black Semiconductor. I have very high conviction in the founders of Black Semiconductor: Daniel and Sebastian Schall. They are both work-class doers who have been working on the idea for many years now. We met first time just pre-pandemic in March 2020 and ever since I have been amazed by their ability to get things done.
Black Semiconductor develops technology, which allows the integration of high-performance graphene optics with any electronics. Why is this important? The chip industry has a bandwidth problem. As humans, we want to use ever more complex applications such as machine learning, which increase the demand for bandwidth to levels which current technologies cannot keep up.
Black Semiconductor wants to solve this by carrying data in an optical format. This results in 100x to 10,000x improvement over existing technologies, depending on the use case. Black Semiconductor’s technology can be used in new-generation AI-chips, communication between advanced chips, connecting advanced sensors in autonomous vehicles, better fiber optics connectivity in data centers, quantum computers and many others. The technology has been meticulously developed at AMO GmbH by Daniel Schall and his colleagues for over ten years. The key here is solving the really difficult task of integrating photonics on electronics and then being able to mass produce such devices.
There are many other companies in the race as this type of technology is expected to revolutionize the chip industry. Companies like Ayar Labs, Lumiphase and Hyperlight are developing similar technologies. What is remarkable is that half of the leading companies are from Europe. This is also one of the reasons why I am so excited about working with Black Semiconductor. Europe has leading research in new materials and computing; it is time that we are also stepping in as leaders in the commercialization of new solutions in these areas. Stay tuned.