What UniversityWafer does

UniversityWafer, Inc. is a privately held specialty semiconductor substrate supplier founded in 1997 and headquartered in South Boston, Massachusetts. The company provides researchers, universities, government labs, and semiconductor-industry R&D teams with small-batch and single-wafer quantities of precision substrates — including silicon, SOI, silicon carbide, gallium arsenide, sapphire, fused silica, quartz, ZnSe, BK7/Borofloat glass, ITO glass, ZnO, alumina, and graphene — in diameters ranging from 1mm to 150mm. The company's core technical capabilities center on tight-tolerance wafer specifications, notably Total Thickness Variation (TTV) below 1 micron on ultra-flat silicon, ultra-thin silicon down to 2 microns, extra-thick silicon up to 10mm, and detailed US-made 4H-SiC with quantified defect-density metrics (EPD ≤12,000/cm², TED ≤9,000/cm², BPD ≤2,000/cm²). It complements substrate sales with custom thin-film deposition services (sputtered and evaporated metals, oxides, nitrides, TCOs, carbides, fluorides, and chalcogenides), gold-coating, MOCVD epitaxial growth, and CVD graphene deposition and transfer.

The business model is a hybrid of direct e-commerce hardware sales and custom professional services. Standard catalog SKUs (e.g., $4.90–$11.90 per 150mm silicon wafer) are sold via a 24/7 self-serve online store with no minimum order quantity, while specialty materials and custom specifications are fulfilled through quote-based inside sales. Customer segments are predominantly academic researchers (university faculty, graduate students), semiconductor-industry R&D engineers, and government research facilities such as the U.S. Department of Energy; the company is cited in over 20,000 research papers, indicating deep penetration of the long-tail research market that tier-1 wafer manufacturers do not address.

UniversityWafer is independently owned, has no disclosed external funding, no parent company, no subsidiaries, and no M&A history. The company employs 11–50 people, operates from a single South Boston facility, and distributes globally through its website rather than through resellers or channel partners. Its strategic posture is that of a focused, bootstrapped niche operator: capital-light, distribution-led, and extended incrementally into adjacent material categories (graphene, MOCVD epi, ZnO) rather than pursued via acquisition or external capital.

Name

UniversityWafer

Legal name

UniversityWafer, Inc.

Website

https://universitywafer.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

UniversityWafer, Inc. is a privately held South Boston supplier of specialty semiconductor substrates — silicon, SOI, SiC, GaAs, sapphire, graphene, and others — sold in small-batch and single-wafer quantities to university, government, and industry researchers globally since 1997, with no minimum order quantity via 24/7 e-commerce.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Semiconductor Substrates

NAICS

Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing (33441), Semiconductor and Related Device Manufacturing (334413)

SIC

Semiconductors & Related Devices (3674)

akta.pro primary industry

Silicon Wafers (Prime/Test/SOI) (HDAHAGAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Compound Semiconductor Wafers & Substrates (SiC/GaN/GaAs/InP/Sapphire) (HDAHAGAB), Wafer Services & Reclaim (Epitaxy, Thinning, Reclaim) (HDAHACAH)

Keywords

• Silicon wafers
• Semiconductor substrates
• Thin film deposition
• Silicon carbide wafers
• Research grade materials

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Semiconductor Wafer Sales: Direct sales of silicon wafers and semiconductor substrates including Silicon, SOI, SiC, GaAs, Sapphire, and specialty materials. Products sold in various sizes (1-150mm) with different grades (Prime, Test Grade) and specifications.
2. Thin Film Deposition Services: Custom thin film deposition services including sputtered films (metals, alloys, nitrides, oxides, TCO, carbides) and evaporated thin films. Services include gold coating, thermal oxide, and graphene deposition.
3. Custom Substrate Processing: Custom substrate processing including wafer dicing, special coatings, and custom specifications per customer requirements.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

UniversityWafer, Inc. sells small-quantity (including single-unit) research-grade semiconductor substrates — silicon, SOI, SiC, GaAs, sapphire, graphene, fused silica, quartz, and other specialty wafers — plus custom thin-film deposition services (sputtered, evaporated, MOCVD) and substrate processing. Products are sold via an online store and quote-based custom orders to academic, government, and industrial research buyers worldwide.

Product overview

UniversityWafer, Inc. is a semiconductor substrate and research materials supplier serving researchers, universities, and the semiconductor industry since 1997. The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of precision substrates including Silicon Wafers, SOI Wafers, Fused Silica, Silicon Carbide (SiC), Sapphire, GaAs, Graphene, ZnO, and various glass substrates. Their product lineup centers on semiconductor fabrication materials with core offerings like Silicon Wafers (available in standard, ultra-flat with TTV<1µm, ultra-thin down to 2µm, and extra-thick up to 10mm), SOI Wafers with configurable device/box/handle layers, and Silicon Carbide (4H-SiC) for power electronics. Supporting products include thermal oxide coatings (100nm-15µm), sputtered and evaporated thin film deposition services, and specialty materials like Gold Coated Silicon Wafers for electrochemistry applications. The company enables purchases of single wafers with no minimum order quantity, and is cited in over 20,000 research papers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Silicon Wafers

Quantifiable outcome

• TTV (Total Thickness Variation) < 1 micron for ultra-flat wafers
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature10 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• MTI Corporation: MTI Corporation sells a broad catalog of single-crystal substrates (Si, SOI, SiC, GaAs, sapphire, glass, ceramics) plus crystal-growing and cutting equipment to research and industrial buyers. It is one of the closest direct competitors to UniversityWafer in small-quantity research wafer distribution.
• MSE Supplies: MSE Supplies provides substrate materials, sputtering targets, and evaporation materials to universities and R&D labs, with an online catalog model very similar to UniversityWafer. Comparable customer base and product mix (Si, SiC, sapphire, metals, oxides) with comparable small-quantity and quote-based pricing.
• Wafer World: Wafer World manufactures and distributes silicon and compound semiconductor wafers in prototype and production quantities. It directly overlaps UniversityWafer on silicon, SOI, SiC, GaAs, and sapphire substrates and competes in the same low-MOQ research market.
• NanoLab Inc: NanoLab supplies 2D materials (graphene, MoS2, hBN) and related substrates to research customers. Overlaps UniversityWafer's graphene line and shares the same academic-laboratory go-to-market with small-quantity e-commerce.

Regional players

• PAM-XIAMEN: PAM-XIAMEN is a China-based substrate manufacturer selling Si, SiC, GaAs, InP, GaN and related compound wafers to global research and industrial customers. Comparable product lines to UniversityWafer's compound-semiconductor portfolio, but primarily competing in Asia and on volume-driven pricing.

Emerging players

• Skyspring Nanomaterials: Skyspring Nanomaterials supplies nanoparticles, graphene, and 2D materials to research buyers worldwide. Partial overlap with UniversityWafer's graphene and specialty materials lines; serves a similar academic buyer with a catalog e-commerce model.
• 2D Semiconductors: 2D Semiconductors supplies CVD graphene, hBN, and transition-metal dichalcogenide films on various substrates. Directly competes with UniversityWafer's CVD graphene offering and targets the same advanced-materials research customer.
• Ted Pella Inc: Ted Pella supplies electron microscopy supplies, substrates, and thin-film deposition consumables to academic and industrial labs. Adjacent customer base (research labs) with overlap on specialty substrates and thin-film consumables used by UniversityWafer customers.

Broad incumbents

• Sigma-Aldrich (Merck KGaA): Sigma-Aldrich / Merck distributes ultra-high-purity chemicals, substrates, and materials globally with a much larger catalog and enterprise sales force. Sells into many of the same university and semiconductor R&D accounts, but as a broad-line distributor rather than a substrate specialist.
• Coherent Corp (II-VI): Coherent (formerly II-VI) manufactures and sells SiC, GaAs, InP, and other compound-semiconductor substrates at industrial scale. Overlaps UniversityWafer on SiC and compound-semiconductor SKUs but serves high-volume fab customers with significantly larger minimum order requirements.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/UniversityWafer

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 UniversityWafer