Riyadh Roundtable, May 17, Riding the Wave; Capitalising on Opportunities in the Semiconductor Space
Raptor is backing a team in early-stage semiconductor opportunities as they believe there is a gap in the market for funding Series A-type innovation in this space, at a time it is desperately needed.
Socratic Partners is a unique fund opportunity focused on Series A – Series C semiconductor investments, an area which there is no true dedicated funds, but is full of opportunity due to massive global non-dilutive gov funding, lack of competition, and strong need for novel technology. Socratic is led by industry best operators and investors that have generated over $75 billion in value over their storied careers in the semiconductor industry. The fund is anchored by three of the world’s largest and most influential semiconductor companies with a combined market cap of over $250 billion: Analog Devices, Arm Holdings, and Global Foundries. It is important to note that this is the first time that these companies have backed an investment fund, which speaks to the calibre of the team, investment strategy, and timing of their launch.
The investment team is spearheaded by Rick Clemmer, former CEO of NXP Semiconductors who built NXP from a failing private business to over $55 billion in market cap. Also joining the team with operating/startup experience is Greg Waters, former CEO of Integrated Device Technologies which he sold for $7 billion, and founder of MatrixSpace, a private stage AI sensor business. Rob Broggi, former global TMT head at Tudor/Raptor and 30-year semiconductor investor has also joined the team. The investment partners have over 100 years of combined experience in the semiconductor industry. Beyond the immediate investment partners, the fund has attached over 15 CEOs, CTOs, Executive Chairmans, and SVPs that cover every relevant end market within the semiconductor industry, there is no fund with this level of expertise focused on semiconductors.
Rick Clemmer, Rob Broggi, and Greg Waters will all join us for lunch so that we can have a deep-dive on the semiconductor space.