EIC-backed investment pushes Zadient to scale European SiC supply

Zadient Technologies, a French company developing a novel process to produce silicon carbide source material, has closed a €35 million Series A equity round. The funding was led by the fund Révolution Environnementale et Solidaire, managed by Crédit Mutuel Impact and financed from Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale's societal dividend. The European Innovation Council Fund also participated alongside Zadient's historical shareholders. The company says the money will accelerate production, expand research and pilot activities, and support environmental controls at its German plant.

Deal terms and intended use of proceeds

The announced round totals €35 million and combines strategic bank-linked impact capital with public innovation backing through the EIC Fund. Zadient will use the funds to scale an existing facility in Bitterfeld, Germany, invest in R&D into crystal growth and wafer production technologies, and implement industrial environmental controls. The press release did not disclose valuation or the share of the round taken by each investor.

What Zadient makes and why it matters

Zadient operates at the upstream end of the silicon carbide value chain. It manufactures the granular SiC source material used to grow single crystals. Those crystals are sliced into wafers and processed into SiC power devices. The company emphasises two features of its process. First it claims very low production cost relative to incumbent routes. Second it targets exceptionally high chemical purity for the source material. Both lower cost and higher purity can influence the economics and yields of later crystal growth and wafering steps.

Planned scale up in Bitterfeld and environmental measures

Zadient says it will scale its Bitterfeld, Germany plant to a production capacity of 350 tons per year of SiC source material as of 2026. The company also plans an environmental engineering upgrade described as a vent gas recovery system. Zadient frames this as an effort to eliminate polluting discharges and to achieve significant energy savings. The announcement positions these measures as part of Zadient's claim to be an environmentally conscious supplier.

R&D focus and target applications

Zadient will expand R&D and pilot activities in innovative crystal growth and wafer production technologies. The stated goal is to improve yields for large diameter crystals and to help accelerate the penetration of SiC further into the semiconductor supply chain. The company also intends to explore new applications beyond power electronics including optical lenses for augmented reality glasses and interposer substrates for AI compute chips.

Those application areas underscore a dual commercial strategy. One track addresses established high volume markets such as electric vehicles and renewable power. The second track pursues higher margin, emerging uses where SiC properties could provide differentiated performance. Both will require further validation to move from laboratory or pilot demonstrations to volume manufacturing.

Strategic positioning and public backing

Zadient highlights its role in supporting Europe's industrial sovereignty for strategic materials. The company says it stands ready to supply SiC materials to European defence programmes. That framing aligns with EU priorities that have pushed for increased local capability in critical technologies including semiconductors and advanced materials.

The EIC Fund has also co-invested in this Series A. EIC programmes have been used to de-risk high potential deep tech companies and to catalyse private co-investment through signalling and direct capital. Public backing can open doors to additional finance and to industrial partnerships but it is not a guarantee of commercial success.

Voices from the deal

Kagan Ceran, CEO and founder of Zadient Technologies, said: "We are thrilled to receive the support of Credit Mutuel Impact and the European Innovation Council in fulfilling our mission to become Europe’s sovereign supplier of critical silicon carbide materials for energy transition and defense, and to develop new high growth applications in areas such as AI chips and wearable displays. This investment will allow Zadient to increase its production capacity and shift more rapidly into full scale commercial operations."

Sabine Schimel, Managing Director of Crédit Mutuel Impact, commented: "We are very pleased to become shareholder of Zadient Technologies alongside the EIC Fund. We are convinced by the industrial vision of Zadient’s founders and silicon carbide market potential. Zadient will contribute to Europe’s industrial sovereignty and sustainable innovation for the next decades. This operation is fully in line with the strategy of our Fund Révolution Environnementale et Solidaire, which is dedicated to technological breakthroughs and decarbonization."

Svetoslava Georgieva, Chair of the EIC Fund Board, declared: "We warmly congratulate Zadient Technologies on this successful funding round and look forward to the transformative impact their technology will have on the next generation of high-performance, energy-efficient chips. Their vision and innovation further strengthen Europe’s position in advanced materials."

Background on the company and ecosystem links

Zadient was founded in 2020 and is headquartered near Chambery, France. It says its management team combines more than 120 years of experience across chemical engineering, physics, and finance. Production of granular SiC source material is located in Bitterfeld, Germany, while R&D activity has ties to Cristal Innov, a public-private research platform connected to the University Claude Bernard Lyon. The company positions itself at the heart of a regional French semiconductor ecosystem that spans Grenoble and Geneva.

Market context and caveats

Global SiC supply today is concentrated among a handful of companies and a limited number of facilities. Demand has surged with the rapid electrification of transport and growth in renewable energy infrastructure. Industry bottlenecks commonly cited include the cost and yield limits of large diameter crystal growth and the capital intensity of scaling wafer and device fabs. New entrants that address upstream constraints such as source material quality and cost can influence the economics of the chain but must still integrate with crystal growers and device manufacturers to prove their claims at scale.

Implications and next steps

The €35 million round gives Zadient a financing runway to increase production and to further develop growth and wafer technologies. If the company reaches the planned 350 tonnes per year capacity by 2026 and if its purity and cost claims hold in commercial production, it could relieve some upstream pressure in the European SiC supply chain. That would be notable because the EU is actively seeking industrial sovereignty in semiconductors and related advanced materials. However commercial success will depend on validating yields at scale, securing long term offtake deals with crystal growers and wafer fabs, and competing on cost and quality against established global suppliers.

Investors and policymakers will watch whether the announced environmental systems perform as promised and whether the company can translate pilot successes into robust volume manufacturing. Public participation through EIC instruments reduces some funding risk and signals strategic alignment with EU goals. It does not remove technical, commercial, and market risks that are typical of deep tech scale ups.

Further reading and sources

This article is based on the Zadient Technologies press release issued on 20 November 2025 and on publicly available descriptions of the EIC STEP Scale Up programme and related EU innovation instruments. Additional context on SiC markets and supply chain dynamics is drawn from industry reporting and standard technical literature. The information presented here is for knowledge sharing and should not be interpreted as the official position of the European Commission or any other organisation.