SKC buys stake in U.S.-based chip packaging startup Chipletz

SKC headquarters [SKC]

SKC, the material and chemical unit of SK Group, said Monday it acquired 12 percent of Austin, Texas-based chip packaging firm Chipletz amid growing demand for packaging technology.

The acquisition price hasn’t been disclosed.

SKC said it is participating in Chipletz’s Series B funding.

Chipletz spun off from U.S. chip design giant AMD in 2021, five years after it was founded as a company-in-company.

The company specializes in advanced packaging technology of chips and is headed by founder and CEO Bryan Black, who has a 20-year career at AMD with expertise in 3-D packaging.

Advanced chip packaging enables the interconnection of different types of chips, such as GPU and DRAM, so that they function as a single chiplet. It plays a vital role in enhancing the chiplet's energy efficiency, allowing it to process more data.

Advanced chip packaging has grown in importance recently as chipsets grow more sophisticated for application in more advanced products. Practical limitations in reducing nanometers in chips are also a factor.

The advanced chip packaging market is expected to reach $57.4 billion this year and $64.9 billion by 2025, according to market tracker Gartner.

Recognizing the sector's potential, SKC has been venturing into chip technology in recent years.

It set up Absolics, a glass substrate provider for chip packaging, in 2022.

Absolics broke ground on a $600 million production facility in Georgia last year to produce advanced glass materials. The company aims to complete the factory by the end of the year.

It also acquired 45 percent of semiconductor test equipment maker ISC in July.

"On the back of SKC's production capacity of glass substrates, SKC aims to set up a differentiated chip packaging solution ecosystem using Chipletz's technology in design, architecture and networks," the Korean company said in a release Monday.

"The two companies will also work together on research and development as well as responses to the U.S. CHIPS Act."

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]