Financial

Poland-based QD developer QNA Technology announced that it has raised 13 million PLN (just over 3.1 million Euros) to commercialize its quantum dots synthesis and production technology. The company optimizes its QDs for two applications: electroluminescence display devices (QD-EL) and for microLED displays devices based on UV microLEDs.

QNA says that it has been able to develop high quality materials that can be synthesized on a large scale, and it is collaborating with global display industry leaders to bring these materials to market. The company built an experimental medium-scale pilot synthesis line, which it is now validating. The new line allows QNA to gain insights into efficiency and production costs, as the company aims to design and construct a larger-scale production synthesis line in the future.

Taiwan-based MicroLED developer PlayNitride announced that its financial results for 2024. The company's sales were 1.76 billion NTD ($53 million USD), up 86% from 2023 (943 million NTD, or $28.6 million USD). It's net income in 2024 was 60.1 million NTD ($1.8 milion USD), up from a loss of 512.8 million NTD in 2023.

PlayNitride also announced that it has secured 800 million NTD ($24.3 million USD) in a new secured convertible bond private placement. This follows a similar 800 million NTD bond issue it has announced towards the end of 2024.

Canada-based Hyperlume announced that it has raised $12.5 million USD in its seed round, led by BDC's Deep Tech Venture Fund and ArcTern Ventures with participation from MUUS Climate Partners, SOSV, LG Technology VEntures and Intel Capital.

Hyperlume was established in 2022 to develop a low-energy optical interconnect solution for chip-to-chip communication. The company's technology relies on microLED arrays to enable high bandwidth and lower power consumption.

The Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MTIE) has announced that it will allocate 38.7 billion Won (about $26.5 million USD) to support the Korean display industry and help it maintain its competitiveness, especially against competition from China.

The main goal of this new award is to support Korea's microLED, OLED and AR/VR display industries. The support will target small and medium-sized enterprises, large corporations and universities and research institutes. The government announced 40 types of projects that will be awarded funds, all R&D projects with a time frame of 1-4 years.

MicroLED display developer VueReal announced that it has raised $40.5 million USD in ts Series C funding round. The round was led by Export Development Canada (EDC) and included participation from existing VueReal investors, including Cycle Capital, BDC Capital's Cleantech Practice, and TDK Ventures.

VueReal says that the new funds will enable it to scale its production capabilities and enhance its ecosystem to support partners in achieving their goals of integrating microLEDs in commercial production.

Last month OTFT developer Smartkem announced that it has partnered with AUO to jointly develop rollable transparent microLED displays, based on Smartkem's OTFT backplane technology. The project will be based on a novel OTFT production process developed at ITRI. 

Smartkem announced today that it was granted $1.1 million from the Innovate UK fund to support this project. This funding is part of the 2024 UK-Taiwan Collaborative R&D Initiative. The funding will be paid over the period of the two-year project, starting in early 2025.

PlayNitride reported its earning results for Q3 2024 - with an increase in revenues to $16.1 million USD (up 49% from Q3 2023). The company reported its first net income, of $1.8 million (up from a loss of $2.7 million in Q3 2023).  For the first nine months of 2024, PlayNitride reported revenues of $32.5 million USD, up from $21.5 million in the first nine months of 2023.

PlayNitride also approved a bond issue, raising $24.6 million USD. The company's stock price has risen shapely in recent months. 

Belgium-based QD developer and MicroLED Association member QustomDot announced that it has raised 5 million Euros at its pre-Series A financing round.

Several investors participated in this recent round, including Noshaq, EIC Fund, Qbic Fund, Venture Capital, PMV and VIGO Venture. 

During the company's recent conference call, AUO said that the company is "making significant progress" in MicroLED technology, transitioning to a 4.5-Gen line. AUO's current microLED production line is referred to as a 1-Gen line, used to produce commercial wearable displays (although we understand yields are very low and production costs are still extremely high). The company hopes its new larger line will improve production efficiency and cost structure.

AUO said that the new production line will enable it to start producing automotive displays, which are expected to launch by 2026 or 2027.

LG Electronics announced a strategic plan to focus on its Business Solutions division, with an aim to double its sales to $7.5 billion by 2030. The division is in charge of businss-to-business (B2B) and signage displays, commercial TVs, IT devices such as laptops and monitors, robots and EV chargers.

LG says that for its commercial and signage displays, it will focus on premium fine-pitch LED displays, which include its microLED Magnit models. Indeed LG says that "MAGNIT Micro LED display will be at the forefront of this expansion".  The company reveals that its annual MAGNIT sales grew almost 2X since introducing them in 2020 (though sales are still likely very low). LG plans to launch its next-generaiton AI-powered microLED TVs by the end of 2024.