Siemens acquires minority stake in Durham semiconductor startup

Siemens has acquired a 16 percent stake in Semprius, a Durham startup that is developing next generation solar devices.

Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

Semprius CEO Joe Carr said the investment is part of a larger venture capital round, the full details of which will be announced next week.

The company, which has about 30 employees, has raised more than $10 million in venture capital financing from Durham's Intersouth Partners and others.

Semprius has been working with Siemens Industry on building and deploying demonstration units of its solar cells.

This latest investment is by the renewable energy division of Siemens Energy.

The additional capital will be used to build a plant to manufacture Semprius’ solar cells.

Carr said the location of the plant has already been chosen, though he declined to disclose it.

Semprius’ was founded by three University of Illinois professors in 2005.

The professors developed a unique process, called micro-transfer printing, that allows solar cells to be produced at a reduced cost.

Carr previously served as CEO of Osram Opto Semiconductors in San Jose, Ca. After retiring and moving to the Triangle, he began consulting for Semprius and other technology companies.

“I got so enamored with this printing technology that basically we agreed I should probably take it full time,” Carr said. “I said, look I’m not moving, so we moved the company down to Durham.”

Carr said Semprius’ printing process allows the company to produce a solar cell for about half the cost of its competitors.