Davis Auksmuksts
VC & Corporate Innovation
Biography
At Plug and Play, Davis lead investments in Fintech & Al startups raising early-stage venture rounds. With a Fintech portfolio of over 235 startups including companies BigID, Blockdaemon, Esusu, Flutterwave, Honey, Trulio, Kustomer, N26, and Tractable, we back founders who are challenging the world today and creating technologies of tomorrow.
Company Profile
Plug and Play is the ultimate innovation platform. Our mission is to build the world’s leading innovation platform and make innovation open to anyone, anywhere. We do this by connecting entrepreneurs, corporations, and investors worldwide.
Over the past 15 years, we have brought together 35,000+ startups, 500+ world-leading corporations, and hundreds of venture capital firms, universities, and government agencies across 20+ industries.
We are active in 50+ locations globally, including the U.S., China, France, Germany, South Africa, Singapore, Indonesia, Brazil, and more.
Together with our partners, we are creating a unique ecosystem designed to facilitate meaningful introductions, invest in startups, and bring together key stakeholders.
The industries we focus on include Agtech, Animal Health, Brand & Retail, Crypto & Digital Assets, Energy, Enterprise, Fintech, Food & Beverage, Health, Insurtech, IoT, Maritime, Media & Ad, Mobility, New Materials & Packaging, Real Estate & Construction, Smart Cities, Supply Chain, Sustainability, and Travel & Hospitality.
Blair Georgakas
Investment Manager
Biography
Blair Georgakas joined Applied Ventures in 2019 while pursuing her MBA at UC Berkeley Haas. She has a broad set of interests across deep tech / hardtech verticals and is currently supporting investments in energy storage and additive manufacturing.
Prior to joining Applied Ventures, Blair led the physical product management team for 3D printing start-up, Shapeways, where she led the launch of over 10 new products, managed strategic partnerships with HP, EOS, EnvisionTec, Formlabs, etc, and implemented lean manufacturing methods to reduce cost. Earlier in her career, she also worked for Northrop Grumman as a materials science engineer with responsibilities including R&D of new materials, material characterization, failure analysis, and process optimization.
Blair graduates from UC Berkeley Haas School of Business with an MBA in May 2021. She also holds a master of science degree in engineering and advanced structural materials and a bachelor of science degree in materials science and engineering from UCLA with a technical breadth in mechanical engineering.
Company Profile
Applied Ventures, LLC, is the venture capital arm of Applied Materials, Inc., (NASDAQ: AMAT). Applied Materials is the global leader in materials engineering solutions used to produce virtually every new chip and advanced display in the world. For more than a decade, Applied Ventures has invested in startups that are pioneering innovations in smartphones, augmented and virtual reality, AI, driverless cars, big data, life sciences, 3D printing, robotics, cleantech, and advanced materials. Applied Ventures is stage agnostic and invests up to $100M per year globally. We have invested in over 90 companies across 18 countries.
Dr. Yvonne Lutsch
Investment Director
Biography
Yvonne joined Lam Capital in October 2024 as Investment Director, bringing over 7 years of venture capital experience from Bosch Ventures USA, where she led investments in deep tech fields like AI, quantum computing, semiconductors, sensors, and industrial technology. She also has 13+ years of operational experience at Bosch, having served in leadership roles across technology scouting, business development, engineering, and manufacturing in both mobility as well as consumer electronics. Yvonne holds a PhD in Applied Physics from University of Tuebingen and a Diploma in Experimental Physics from University of Siegen, both Germany.
Company Profile
Lam Capital invests in innovative companies that are addressing some of today’s most challenging, high-impact problems. From semiconductor subsystems to AI chips and Industry 4.0 technologies, we invest in and partner with startups that are disrupting their respective industries.
Daniel Armbrust
Co-Founder, Director
Biography
Daniel Armbrust is a Silicon Catalyst co-founder, member of the Board of Directors and its initial CEO.
Daniel serves as an advisor, board member, board chairman and angel investor for many semiconductor startups. Daniel is an affiliate with Lawrence Berkeley National Labs and recently was appointed to the Industrial Advisory Committee, which advises the Department of Commerce on the R&D strategy for the CHIPS Act. He served as President and CEO of the SEMATECH semiconductor consortium and held various positions in semiconductor manufacturing and development over 25 years at IBM.
Armbrust earned a bachelor’s degree in ceramic science and engineering from Pennsylvania State University as well as a master’s of science degree in manufacturing systems engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Company Profile
Silicon Catalyst is the only incubator + accelerator focused on the Global Semiconductor Industry including Chips, Chiplets, Materials, IP and Silicon fabrication-based Photonics, MEMS, Sensors, Life Science and Quantum.
More than 1,200 startup companies worldwide have engaged with Silicon Catalyst and the company has admitted over 100 exciting companies. With a world-class network of mentors to advise startups, Silicon Catalyst is helping new semiconductor companies address the challenges in moving from idea to realization.
The incubator + accelerator supplies startups with access to design tools, silicon devices, networking, and a path to funding, banking and marketing acumen to successfully launch and grow their company’s novel technology solutions. Over the past nine years, the Silicon Catalyst model has been proven to dramatically accelerate a startup’s trajectory while at the same time de-risking the equation for investors.
The Silicon Catalyst Angels was established in July 2019 as a separate organization to provide access to seed and Series A funding for Silicon Catalyst Portfolio Companies.
SiliconCatalyst.UK, a subsidiary of Silicon Catalyst, was selected by the UK government to manage ChipStart UK, an early-stage semiconductor incubator funded by the UK government.
In February of 2024, Silicon Catalyst Ventures (SCV) was launched to fund early-stage startups accepted into the incubator’s two-year program. SCV has already made eleven investments in Silicon Catalyst Portfolio Companies.
More information is available at www.siliconcatalyst.com, www.siliconcatalystangels.com, www.siliconcatalyst.uk, and Silicon Catalyst Ventures www.sicatalystvc.com.
Dr. Henry Huang
Investment Director
Biography
Dr. Henry Huang is an investment director with Micron Ventures, the $300 VC arm of the global leader in computer memory and data storage solutions. He focuses on deep-tech startups developing sustainable compute infrastructure and advanced AI/ML software solutions. Prior to Micron, he had led investments in computing and connectivity with TDK Ventures and extensive operational experience with AT&T, NextG Networks (acquired by Crown Castle), Tarana Wireless, and TTS Wireless (acquired by AMDOC). He holds an MBA degree from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, a Ph.D. degree from University of Missouri-Columbia and a B.S. degree from University of Science and Technology of China (USTC).
Company Profile
Micron Ventures is a $300M venture capital arm of Micron Technology, a global leader in innovative computer memory and data storage solutions. The fund focuses on early-stage deep tech startups that develop sustainable compute infrastructure and advanced AI, ML, and software solutions.
Kevin Soukup
SVP/GM Silicon Photonics
Biography
Kevin Soukup is Senior Vice President of Silicon Photonics Product Line at GF, a position he was appointed to in 2024. In this role, Mr. Soukup leads the company’s Silicon Photonics business that enables customers to transport enormous volumes of data through high-speed, power efficient electro-optical systems.
Prior to his current role, he served as Chief Strategy Officer developing the company’s integrated strategy and ensuring that GF has the management systems in place to deliver. Mr. Soukup joined GF in 2011 and held positions of increasing responsibility in technology development and manufacturing operations for the next seven years. In 2018, Kevin transitioned to VP of Business Transformation and helped prepare GF for IPO in 2021.
Before his career with GF, Mr. Soukup spent eleven years with Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor unit in engineering and operations management positions.
Mr. Soukup holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Florida. He currently serves as a member of the board of directors of VueReal.
Company Profile
GF is one of the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturers and the only one with a truly global footprint. We are redefining innovation and semiconductor manufacturing by developing feature-rich process technology solutions that provide leadership performance in pervasive high growth markets. As a steadfast partner, with a unique mix of design, development and fabrication services, GF works collaboratively alongside our customers to bring a broad range of innovative products to market. With a global customer base, a talented and diverse workforce and an at-scale manufacturing footprint spanning three continents, GF is delivering a new era of more.
Amy Leong
CEO
Biography
Amy has 26+ years of semiconductor experience in P&L management, product development, global sales and marketing, mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining AEM, she held various senior leadership positions in California US with FormFactor, including Chief Commercial Officer, General Manager, and Chief Marketing Officer. Amy has been serving as an advisory board member of International Semiconductor Executive Summits (ISES) since 2016, and Singapore Semiconductor Industry Association (SSIA) since 2024.
Amy received a Master of Science degree in materials science and engineering from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley.
Company Profile
Ilya Zabelinsky
Co-Founder
Biography
Ilya Zabelinsky is a globally recognized technical leader with nearly 30 years of experience in vacuum and gas abatement applications for semiconductor manufacturing. Ilya joined Intel in 1996, contributing to the startup and commissioning of Israel’s first 200mm FAB. He emerged as an operational and technical leader across Intel SubFABs worldwide.
In 2022, Ilya embarked on a mission to “bring Science to SubFAB” and founded the International SubFAB Research Labs. Ilya holds a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering and possesses broad knowledge and vast practical experience in semiconductor manufacturing processes, FAB equipment, central facilities, and infrastructure.
Company Profile
International SubFAB Research Labs (ISRL) is a privately owned company founded by highly experienced and skilled team of semiconductor industry veterans.
ISRL’s vision is to fill the immense gap between industry’s desire for sustainable manufacturing and its ability to effectively address fundamental efficiency issues associated with handling, abatement and reclaim of hazardous process material waste streams. In other words – all is SubFAB.
ISRL is a first of kind facility with complete infrastructure required to operate a l fleet of 300mm process tools with versatile setup of deposition and dry etching process chambers, in high volume manufacturing-like conditions, to enable a wide range of sustainability research and development projects.
We are ENABLERS.
Our facility will enable OTHERS to help semiconductor operations work more sustainably with sharing of best practices leading to a fast and highly efficient deployment of sustainability improvements with a business model enabling clients to both reduce their costs and amplify sustainability benefits, faster time to market for breakthroughs, innovations and operational excellence in sustainable semiconductor manufacturing.
We are opening new horizons in research by understanding the significant environmental challenges that have been historically overlooked by the commercial pressures of value-generating semiconductors fabrication.
Our facility will offer a unique opportunity for companies looking to validate and qualify their equipment and technologies aimed at environmental sustainability.
We will simulate HVM-like conditions to support R&D for next generation gas abatement, materials recycle/reclaim, energy efficiency and other critical segments to enable sustainable semiconductor manufacturing in decades to come.
Dr. Monita Pau
Strategic Marketing Director, Advanced Packaging
Biography
Monita Pau is currently Strategic Marketing Director for Advanced Packaging at Onto Innovation. She works with business leaders and executives to drive strategic planning and leads the development of collaborative initiatives to drive growth and innovation. With over 15 years of experience, her expertise spans across frontend and backend of line process control solutions as well as specialty materials for advanced packaging and assembly. Prior to joining Onto, she held various positions in applications engineering, marketing and strategic business development at DuPont and KLA. Monita holds a Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from Stanford University.
Company Profile
Onto Innovation is a leader in process control, combining global scale with an expanded portfolio of leading-edge technologies that include: Un-patterned wafer quality; 3D metrology spanning chip features from nanometer scale transistors to large die interconnects; macro defect inspection of wafers and packages; elemental layer composition; overlay metrology; factory analytics; and lithography for advanced semiconductor packaging. Our breadth of offerings across the entire semiconductor value chain helps our customers solve their most difficult yield, device performance, quality, and reliability issues. Onto Innovation strives to optimize customers’ critical path of progress by making them smarter, faster and more efficient. Headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts, Onto Innovation supports customers with a worldwide sales and service organization.
General Telephone: +1 978 253 6200
General email: info@ontoinnovation.com
Website: www.ontoinnovation.com
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