Verteq Inc., a Santa Ana maker of gear used to clean silicon wafers, has received an undisclosed amount of funding from Japan’s Seki Technotron Corp., a supplier of chips and other electronics.
Seki, which distributes Verteq products in Japan, “has made a significant financial investment” in the company, according to John Breslin, chief executive of Verteq. The company plans to use the money for developing new products due out this year.
Verteq’s equipment is used in the process of making silicon wafers, the building blocks of semiconductors. Customers include Intel Corp., Analog Devices Inc., Texas Instruments Inc. and other big chip makers.
“We see a large market for Verteq’s products in Asia,” said Makoto Seki, president of Seki Technotron.
The money comes as the semiconductor industry is contracting. Last week, Newport Beach-based Conexant Systems Inc. said it plans to lay off 1,500 workers, including 450 of its 2,700 people in Orange County. The move follows cutbacks by Intel, Texas Instruments, Motorola Inc. and other chip makers wrestling with a slowdown in demand for their products.
Verteq, which employs 160 people in Santa Ana, raised $18 million in 1999 from Costa Mesa-based Westar Capital Associates, an investment fund backed by George Argyros.
