What Applied Nanolayers does

Applied Nanolayers (ANL) was a Dutch specialty materials company founded in 2012 in Den Haag, Netherlands, focused on scalable wafer-level graphene integration for semiconductor applications. Its core product is high-quality graphene material produced and transferred onto semiconductor wafers, intended to enable Integrated Graphene Photonics (IGP) — the integration of photonic data communication directly into electronic chip systems. The technical platform comprises a semi-automated 200mm process line currently producing 10,000 wafers per year, with a stated roadmap to a fully automated 300mm process targeting over one million wafers per year.

The company operated as a B2B materials supplier targeting semiconductor manufacturers in AI, high-performance computing, and integrated photonics. ANL's revenue model centered on hardware sales of graphene materials; no pricing was publicly disclosed. The company ran with a small team of approximately 10 material experts with over 12 years of graphene production and transfer experience, and was acquired by German chip-connectivity company Black Semiconductor in March 2025. Following the transaction, ANL operates as Black Semiconductor Netherlands, contributing its graphene IP and personnel to Black Semiconductor's broader IGP roadmap and FabONE 300mm pilot line (opened January 2025), with planned volume graphene-based chip production from 2029.

The business had no publicly disclosed customers, no filed patents or trademarks, and no regulatory certifications in the input data. Marketing and distribution were enterprise-direct, integrated into the Black Semiconductor supply chain post-acquisition. The single prior corporate stakeholder identified in the input is TEL Venture Capital, which participated in a 2015 funding entry with no disclosed dollar amount. Applied Nanolayers is no longer an independent operating entity.

Name

Applied Nanolayers

Legal name

Applied Nanolayers

Website

https://appliednanolayers.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Applied Nanolayers was a Dutch graphene materials specialist founded in 2012, producing wafer-scale graphene for semiconductor manufacturers developing integrated photonics and chip connectivity. Acquired by Black Semiconductor in March 2025, it now operates as Black Semiconductor Netherlands.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Semiconductor Materials

NAICS

Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing (33441), Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing (3344), Research and Development in Nanotechnology (541713)

SIC

Semiconductors & Related Devices (3674)

akta.pro primary industry

Thin-Film Deposition Materials (PVD/CVD/ALD Targets & Precursors) (HDAHAGAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Epitaxy Materials & Services (Epi Wafers/MBE/MOCVD) (HDAHAGAC), Wafer Services & Reclaim (Epitaxy, Thinning, Reclaim) (HDAHACAH), Carbon‑Based Carbon Materials (graphite, carbon black, CNTs, graphene from CO₂/CO) (EUABAIAG)

Keywords

• Graphene material production
• Wafer-level graphene integration
• Integrated graphene photonics
• Semiconductor materials supply
• Chip connectivity photonics

Headquarters

HQ city

Den Haag

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. Graphene Materials Supply: Supply of high-quality graphene materials for semiconductor applications, particularly for integrated photonics and chip connectivity solutions.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Core offering

Applied Nanolayers produced and supplied high-quality graphene materials on wafers, offering a foundry solution that combines 2D materials (graphene) with traditional silicon device manufacturing. Its core capability is a semi-automated 200mm wafer-level graphene integration process platform (10,000 wafers/year capacity) with a planned scale-up to a fully automated 300mm process (over 1 million wafers/year), serving as the material foundation for Integrated Graphene Photonics (IGP) chip technology.

Product overview

Applied Nanolayers was a Dutch graphene specialist company focused on developing scalable wafer-level graphene integration technology. The company specialized in graphene material production and transfer, with 12 years of experience in the field. Their core technology included a semi-automated 200mm process platform capable of producing 10,000 wafers per year, which was planned to be scaled to a fully automated 300mm process to reach over 1 million wafers per year. Applied Nanolayers was acquired by Black Semiconductor in March/April 2025 and now operates as Black Semiconductor Netherlands, with its graphene expertise being integrated into Black Semiconductor's Integrated Graphene Photonics (IGP) technology platform for energy-efficient, high-performance chip connectivity solutions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Wafer-Level Graphene Material Supply (200mm) High-quality graphene layers produced on 200mm wafers via a semi-automated process platform, supplied to semiconductor manufacturers for use as the material foundation of Integrated Graphene Photonics (IGP) chip technology.
• 300mm Fully Automated Graphene Process Platform (in development) Next-generation fully automated 300mm wafer-level graphene production platform intended to scale capacity to over one million wafers per year, supporting Black Semiconductor's IGP 300mm wafer pilot line and future volume production based on graphene material from 2029.
• Integrated Graphene Photonics (IGP) Material Integration Material and integration know-how package that combines ANL's wafer-level graphene with Black Semiconductor's photonic process technology to enable photonic data communication integrated into electronic chip systems, translating between electronic and photonic domains for energy-efficient, high-speed chip connectivity.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Black SemiconductorcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 March 2025Black Semiconductor, a German chip connectivity company, acquired Applied Nanolayers to accelerate graphene photonics technology development. The acquisition combined Black Semiconductor's expertise in chip architectures and photonic process technology with ANL's specialized knowledge in graphene material production. ANL's team of 10 material experts joined Black Semiconductor, growing the company to 65 employees, and the acquisition advanced the technology development timeline by two years. ANL now operates as Black Semiconductor Netherlands, with access to semi-automated 200mm process platform (10,000 wafers/year) and plans to scale to fully automated 300mm process (1M+ wafers/year).

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Black Semiconductor: Parent company of Applied Nanolayers post-acquisition. Develops Integrated Graphene Photonics (IGP) chip connectivity that directly consumes ANL's graphene wafers, making it the closest comparable and the primary customer/integrator of ANL's wafer output.
• Graphenea: Spanish graphene materials producer supplying CVD graphene films and wafers to research and commercial customers. Closest direct peer in graphene wafer production for electronics and photonics applications.
• Versarien: UK-listed advanced materials company producing graphene and other 2D nanomaterials for industrial and electronics applications. Comparable as a publicly listed graphene materials peer pursuing semiconductor and photonics end-markets.
• Directa Plus: Italian graphene and 2D-material producer with a G+ product line aimed at electronics and industrial uses. Comparable as a commercial-scale graphene materials supplier chasing semiconductor adjacencies.

Emerging players

• Paragraf: UK company developing graphene-based electronic devices and sensors using wafer-scale graphene production. Comparable as a wafer-level graphene specialist targeting semiconductor-grade applications.
• 2D Semiconductors: US-based startup focused on wafer-scale 2D materials (including MoS2 and related TMDs) for semiconductor applications. Comparable as a peer in wafer-level 2D-materials integration targeting next-generation chip layers.

Broad incumbents

• AIXTRON: German supplier of MOCVD/CVD deposition systems widely used for graphene and 2D-material growth. Comparable as a key equipment provider in the graphene wafer manufacturing stack and a publicly listed reference point for graphene-on-wafer economics.
• Soitec: French leader in engineered semiconductor wafers (notably SOI). Comparable as a specialty-wafer business model — selling differentiated wafer substrates at scale to chip makers — which is the commercial archetype ANL is targeting at 300mm.
• Intel (Silicon Photonics): Operates a commercial silicon photonics platform for data-center and HPC interconnect. Comparable as the dominant incumbent that ANL/Black Semiconductor's graphene-based IGP must outperform on energy efficiency and bandwidth to win design slots.

Others

• CVD Equipment Corporation: US supplier of CVD and ALD equipment used for graphene and 2D-material deposition at wafer scale. Comparable as the equipment-side counterpart that enables wafer-level graphene production lines.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/applied-nanolayers-bv

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Applied Nanolayers