Lam Capital

AI is moving beyond software and increasingly into the physical world. CuspAI's new AI Materials Foundry brings together a unique coalition of industry leaders across semiconductors, computing, manufacturing, and materials science to accelerate the discovery of breakthrough materials. Founding partners include NVIDIA, Meta, Samsung Semiconductor, Applied Materials, Tokyo Electron, and Lam Research. For industries like semiconductors, where materials often determine what is ultimately possible, accelerating materials discovery could unlock the next generation of technology innovation. We're excited to see Lam Research helping shape this ecosystem and look forward to the advances that emerge from combining AI, scientific expertise, experimental infrastructure, and industry collaboration. https://bwnews.pr/4wXL7Rx

Continuing our series spotlighting the 10 finalists selected to pitch at the 2026 Lam Capital Venture Competition. Through this series, we’re highlighting the innovators, ideas, and technologies shaping the future of semiconductor manufacturing. Fourth: Amazing Cool Technology (https://bit.ly/4b0KiiG) Based in Taiwan and led by Quick Tsai, Amazing Cool Technology is developing an advanced materials platform for electronics, power, and thermal systems. Their work explores how advanced materials can improve conductivity, heat dissipation, and reliability across demanding semiconductor and power applications. The application in semiconductor manufacturing and packaging demonstrates its potential as a high-performance material, with future advancements expected to further support the efficient operation and stability of next-generation electronic devices. Congratulations to the Amazing Cool Technology team on being selected as a finalist in this year's competition. We look forward to following their continued progress as they work to bring next-generation advanced materials to high-performance electronics.

Continuing our spotlight series featuring the 10 finalists selected for the 2026 Lam Capital Venture Competition. Each post highlights a startup whose technology, vision, and innovation stood out during this year's competition. Third: SemiAI SemiAI showcased its vision for bringing AI-native yield intelligence to semiconductor manufacturing. Headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, the company is developing a platform that combines virtual fab modeling, predictive AI, and multimodal root-cause analysis to help accelerate yield improvement and manufacturing optimization. Led by CEO Taekwon Jee, SemiAI is building technologies designed to generate synthetic fab data, predict process and yield outcomes, and provide AI-driven decision support for complex manufacturing environments. By creating a digital thread across lithography, metrology, and process data, the company aims to help fabs identify issues faster and improve operational performance. Thank you to the SemiAI team for participating in the 2026 Lam Capital Venture Competition and sharing their innovative approach to applying AI in semiconductor manufacturing.

Continuing our series spotlighting the 10 finalists selected to pitch at the 2026 Lam Capital Venture Competition. Through this series, we're highlighting the innovators, ideas, and technologies that stood out. Second: VerticalCompute As a finalist in the 2026 Lam Capital Venture Competition, VerticalCompute showcased its vision for overcoming the AI memory bottleneck through a novel memory architecture that brings data and compute closer together. Based in Leuven, Belgium, the semiconductor startup is developing Vertically Integrated Memory (VIM) technology aimed at enabling more efficient and scalable AI infrastructure. Led by CEO Sylvain Dubois, VerticalCompute is advancing a new approach that integrates high-density memory directly above logic, reducing data movement while improving performance and energy efficiency for next-generation AI systems. The company's technology leverages vertical memory concepts and 3D integration techniques to help address one of the fundamental constraints facing modern AI computing. An imec spin-off, Vertical Compute already raised €57 million in the seed rounds to advance its next-generation memory technology for AI applications. Thank you to Sylvain Dubois and the Vertical Compute team for participating in the 2026 Lam Capital Venture Competition and sharing their innovative approach to advancing semiconductor and AI infrastructure technologies.

India Deep Tech: From Potential to Momentum Last week, Lam Capital was pleased to participate in Startup Policy Forum's Deep Tech session during San Francisco Deep Tech Week. Our team member, Vaidehi B., represented Lam Capital, bringing a corporate venture perspective to a conversation that brought together founders, investors, policymakers, and ecosystem leaders focused on strengthening the India-US innovation corridor. As a corporate venture investor, conversations like these are an important way for us to engage with emerging technologies, connect with founders, and better understand the trends shaping the future of semiconductors and deep tech. The discussions reflected an important shift. India is no longer just a global talent hub. It is rapidly emerging as a global deep tech innovation engine. With strong momentum across Physical AI, semiconductors, robotics, advanced manufacturing, and AI infrastructure, this feels like a defining moment. AI is accelerating demand across the semiconductor value chain, including wafer fabrication equipment, making innovation across the entire ecosystem more important than ever. The discussion highlighted how government initiatives shared by Srikar Reddy Koppula, Consulate General of India in San Francisco, including the India Semiconductor Mission, IndiaAI Mission, and the RDI Fund, are helping create a strong foundation. Combined with the efforts of founders, investors, corporate venture firms, universities, and industry leaders, these initiatives are strengthening the two-way innovation corridor between India and the United States. One of Vaidehi's key takeaways from the discussion was: "When policy, capital, and talent all lean in at the same time, you don't just get more startups. You build companies that can compete globally." As a member of the India Deep Tech Alliance https://bit.ly/4b2a7P6, Lam Capital is proud to contribute to this growing ecosystem. We believe breakthrough innovation happens when entrepreneurs, researchers, strategic investors, industry leaders, and global customers come together to solve meaningful challenges. A sincere thank you to Shweta Rajpal Kohli and Startup Policy Forum team for bringing together such an outstanding group of leaders: ABHINAV DAS Orangewood, Nistha Mitra Neuramill. Ranjana Nair RayIot Solutions, Inc, Rishabh Agarwal Raise Robotics, @Priya Rajan MUFG, Mohanjit Jolly Iron Pillar, Eravi Gopan Hexaware Technologies, Anagh Prasad Accel in India, Prateek Sharma Ahead VC. If you're building at the intersection of semiconductors, Physical AI, robotics, advanced manufacturing, advanced packaging, or AI infrastructure, we'd love to hear from you. Follow Lam Capital here on LinkedIn and reach out to our team to learn more about how we’re engaging with the next generation of deep tech founders. The momentum is real, and we're excited to continue supporting innovation across the India-US deep tech ecosystem.

What an insightful conversation! 🎙️ Featuring Audrey Charles, President of Lam Capital and Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy & Advanced Packaging at Lam Research. In her interview with Shereen Bhan of CNBC-TV18, Audrey discusses the importance of partnering with innovators across the technology ecosystem. As she notes, “no one company is going to have all the answers.” She shares how Lam Capital works with startups tackling some of the semiconductor industry's toughest engineering challenges and why AI is driving “an incredible pace of innovation” unlike anything the industry has seen before. At Lam Capital, we believe breakthrough innovation happens through collaboration, bringing together startups, industry leaders, and researchers to help shape the future of technology. Thank you to CNBC-TV18 and Shereen Bhan for the opportunity to share Lam Capital's perspective. 🎥 Watch the full interview here: https://bit.ly/4wqHuU7

We're excited to launch a new series spotlighting the 10 finalists selected to pitch at the 2026 Lam Capital Venture Competition. Through this series, we're highlighting the innovators, ideas, and technologies that stood out. First up: TDS Innovation Inc. Based in South Korea and led by CEO Kibum Kang, TDS Innovation Inc. is developing materials and equipment for the emerging generation of 2D semiconductors. These ultra-thin materials have the potential to enable higher performance, greater integration density, and improved power efficiency for future computing systems. At the core of TDS's approach is its proprietary Crystal Layer Deposition (CLD) technology, which the company is developing to unlock the potential of 2D semiconductors and enable future advances beyond conventional silicon. As the semiconductor industry seeks new approaches to deliver greater performance and energy efficiency, innovations in materials and process technology will play an increasingly important role. TDS Innovation is helping build the foundation for what may become the next generation of AI chips. Thank you to Kibum Kang and the entire TDS Innovation team for participating in the 2026 Lam Capital Venture Competition. We look forward to following their continued journey and impact on the future of semiconductor innovation.

Excited to see such a strong discussion on the future of photonics at SF Deep Tech Week. As AI infrastructure scales, photonics is emerging as a critical technology across multiple domains—from enabling higher-bandwidth, lower-power datacenter interconnects, to accelerating optical computing architectures, and serving as a foundational platform for photonics quantum computing. Lam Capital's Kevin Chen, PhD joined an outstanding panel featuring Srini Ananth Intel Capital Josh Miner, CFA Maverick Silicon Jerry Yang HCVC with Thomas Renaudin from OVNI Capital moderating the discussion.  Together, they explored the opportunities and challenges facing the next generation of photonics startups and technologies. And thanks to Augustin Sayer for setting up this insightful panel up.

Thrilled to see our own Kevin Chen, PhD recognized on the 2026 GCV Powerlist 👏 The Global Corporate Venturing Powerlist highlights some of the most influential leaders shaping the future of corporate venture capital—individuals driving innovation across industries and bridging startups with global enterprises. Kevin’s recognition is a testament to the impact he’s had building Lam Capital into a strategic force within the semiconductor ecosystem—backing deeptech founders, pushing the boundaries of advanced manufacturing, and consistently challenging the status quo to drive meaningful innovation. From his roots as a deeptech entrepreneur to leading investments across the semiconductor landscape, Kevin embodies what corporate venture is all about: combining technical insight, operational experience, and strategic vision to help founders scale transformative technologies. Well deserved recognition—and excited to see what’s next 🚀 👉 Read Kevin’s profile https://bit.ly/3QX36Iz

Throwback Thursday... We were excited to see our Managing Director, Kevin Chen, PhD join the stage at the Synopsys Startup & VC Connect—bringing a venture perspective to one of the most important conversations in deep tech today. At the event, industry leaders, startups, and investors came together to discuss what it takes to turn next‑generation AI architectures into production‑ready silicon—where speed, capital efficiency, and ecosystem collaboration truly matter. [news.synopsys.com] Kevin joined fellow investors on the VC panel to share insights on: 🔹 What differentiates fundable silicon startups today 🔹 Why execution speed is becoming the ultimate moat 🔹 How collaboration across the ecosystem is unlocking the next wave of innovation As AI continues to reshape the semiconductor landscape, partnerships between startups, corporates, and investors are more critical than ever to bridge innovation and real‑world deployment. 👏 Big thanks to Synopsys for convening such a high‑impact group—and to all the founders and investors pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. 👉 Check out highlights from the event: https://lnkd.in/ecVgYs8h