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The recently signed technical service agreement between Smoltek Semi and the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) of Taiwan changes how CNF-MIM capacitors will reach the market. This partnership delivers the validation and manufacturing capabilities needed to transform laboratory breakthroughs into commercial reality.
Thomas Barregren • July 30, 2025
The semiconductor industry’s graveyard is full of brilliant technologies that never escaped the laboratory. For Smoltek shareholders, the recently signed technical service agreement with Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) represents the game-changing moment that separates promising research from commercial reality.
This agreement has been met with significant enthusiasm from shareholders and the market – and rightfully so. But to fully appreciate why this partnership marks such a crucial turning point, we need to understand what it concretely delivers and why ITRI is the perfect partner to take our unique capacitor technology from lab to fab.
On the surface, this is a technical service agreement enabling low-volume production of our CNF-MIM capacitors. But its real value lies in what it unlocks. For over a year, Smoltek Semi and ITRI have worked together developing and refining the technical processes required to manufacture our capacitors. This new, formalized agreement represents the culmination of that work and the starting signal for the next phase: industrialization.
This is the decisive step to take our technology from “lab to fab.” By establishing a pilot production line at ITRI, we can manufacture industrial prototypes for the first time. This matters for two critical reasons:
First, customer validation. We already have customers waiting for industrial prototypes and are in discussions with potential customers willing to pay premium prices for our capacitors. Being able to deliver physical, industrially manufactured capacitors for evaluation provides the ultimate proof of our technology’s maturity and performance.
Second, risk mitigation. By verifying the manufacturing process alongside a world-leading partner, we significantly reduce both technical and commercial risks. We’re proving not just that our technology works, but how it can be manufactured in an industrial environment.
The choice of partner is no coincidence. ITRI isn’t just any research institute. With over 6,000 employees and a patent portfolio exceeding 30,000 patents, ITRI stands as one of the pillars of Taiwan’s technological miracle.
It was ITRI that laid the foundation for Taiwan’s entire semiconductor industry in the 1970s and 80s by acting as an incubator and then spinning off giants like UMC (1980) and TSMC (1987) – today two of the world’s largest chip manufacturers. ITRI’s entire existence is built on bridging the gap between breakthrough research and commercial mass production. They are world-leading experts at bringing new semiconductor technology to market.
Partnering with ITRI gives Smoltek a quality stamp that is invaluable. It signals to the entire industry that our CNF-MIM technology is ready to be taken seriously at the highest level. Moreover, it positions us at the heart of the global semiconductor ecosystem in Taiwan, close to our customers.
The agreement involves several concrete and value-creating steps that accelerate our development timeline.
The most significant aspect is that we will install our advanced, custom-designed chemical vapor deposition (CVD) machine directly in ITRI’s production facility. Affectionately called “Eddie” by our retail investors, this machine grows the carbon nanofibers that form the heart of our capacitor technology.
Instead of shipping materials between facilities, we now have a complete value chain – from carbon nanofiber growth to finished capacitor – in one location.
This setup cuts logistics costs, speeds up development, and gives us better process control – all essential for scaling up production. As CEO Magnus Andersson explains, “With the ITRI agreement and installation of our carbon growth machine in their production environment, we have the opportunity to scale up and grow carbon nanofibers for manufacturing millions of capacitors per year.”
This manufacturing capability opens two immediate opportunities. First, it enables production of industrial prototypes for customer evaluation – addressing the critical gap between laboratory demonstrations and real-world validation. Second, it allows small-volume commercial production for specialized customer projects, creating an immediate path to initial revenue while larger licensing agreements are negotiated.
The geographic element of this partnership cannot be overlooked. Taiwan hosts the world’s most sophisticated semiconductor ecosystem, with companies like TSMC, UMC, and dozens of packaging and testing facilities all within close proximity. By establishing our pilot production at ITRI, Smoltek positions itself at the center of this ecosystem.
This proximity provides immediate access to potential customers who are already evaluating next-generation packaging solutions for AI and high-performance computing applications. The timing aligns perfectly with industry trends, as advanced processors for AI and data centers push the limits of power delivery – creating exactly the problems that our ultra-thin, high-capacitance solutions are designed to solve.
Perhaps most importantly for shareholders, this partnership dramatically reduces the technical and commercial risks associated with our industrialization journey. ITRI’s deep knowledge of semiconductor scaling processes means we can leverage decades of accumulated expertise rather than learning through costly trial and error.
Consider what this means in practice. When TSMC was spun off from ITRI in 1987, it wasn’t just given technology – it inherited the manufacturing wisdom that ITRI had developed over years of research and development. That same expertise is now available to Smoltek as we navigate the critical transition from laboratory to commercial production.
This experience becomes invaluable as we prepare for licensing agreements with major component manufacturers. Potential partners need confidence that our technology can scale reliably and cost-effectively. Having ITRI’s validation provides exactly that assurance.
Our patented CNF-MIM technology enables manufacturing of extremely thin capacitors with exceptionally high capacitance density. These characteristics are crucial for next-generation electronics in rapidly growing markets like AI, mobile communications, and high-performance data centers, where maximum performance in minimal space is everything.
The ITRI agreement is about more than just manufacturing – it’s about realizing this potential. This strategic alliance combines our unique, disruptive nanotechnology with ITRI’s unmatched expertise in industrial scaling. Together, we’re now taking the decisive step to establish Smoltek Semi as a key player in the global semiconductor industry.
For shareholders, this agreement transforms Smoltek from a company with promising laboratory technology into one with proven industrial manufacturing capability. That transformation, validated by one of the world’s most respected semiconductor research institutes, represents the crucial leap toward realizing the commercial potential of CNF-MIM technology.
The journey from lab to fab has begun in earnest.
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