Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised M Ventures and imec.xpand as lead investors, as well Robert Bosch Venture Capital, in a US$20m Series B financing round for Ferroelectric Memory GmbH (“FMC”), the leading developer of ferroelectric hafnium oxide technology. SK hynix, TEL Venture Capital and eCapital also participated in the financing.
FMC develops advanced ferroelectric hafnium oxide memory technology to deliver leading-edge non-volatile memory for future electronics and computing innovation. Its ferroelectric field-effect transistor (FeFET) and capacitor (FeCAP) technology is simple to integrate, fast, low-power, and scalable, and has high endurance with decades of data retention, suitable for a broad range of AI, IoT, edge, data centre, and embedded applications.
M Ventures is the strategic, corporate venture capital arm of Merck, with a mandate to invest in innovative technologies and products with the potential to significantly impact its parent core business. imec.xpand is an early stage and growth fund with a focus on nanotechnology innovation and Robert Bosch Venture Capital is the corporate venture capital company of the Bosch Group, a leading global supplier of technology and services.
The WFW Frankfurt Corporate team that advised M Ventures, imec.xpand and Robert Bosch Venture Capital was led by Partner Dr Christoph Naumann, supported by Associates Matthias Strecker and Dr Marius Rothermund as well as Transaction Lawyers Ornella Galom and Janine Henger. Hamburg Of Counsel Torge Rademacher provided IP advice, with Hamburg Tax Partner Verena Scheibe leading on tax matters, supported by Frankfurt Associate Manuel Rustler.
Christoph commented: “I’m delighted that we were able to help our clients successfully close this financing round which will enable FMC to accelerate the commercialisation of its disruptive non-volatile ferroelectric memory technology. That such leading names as M Ventures, Robert Bosch Venture Capital and imec.xpand opted for WFW to advise them is testament to the firm’s growing reputation for venture capital excellence in Germany”.
