Trace Zero

What Trace Zero does

Trace Zero is a private specialty chemicals manufacturer founded in 2009 by Frank A. Taube III, operating from a state-of-the-art production facility in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The company produces ultra-high purity aqueous chemical solutions — primarily malonic acid and citric acid in 5%-50% concentrations — alongside a broader portfolio covering organic acids, amino acids, nonionic surfactants, alcohols, sugar-alcohols, and glycols. Its core technical differentiator is a proprietary purification system that removes trace metals, halogens, and particulate without altering product composition, paired with multi-stage filtration (10 µm down to 20 nm), ICP-MS analysis at parts-per-trillion detection levels, six-sigma statistical process control, and ISO 9001:2015 / SEMI C1 & C10 validated methods.

The company's revenue model is built on four streams: sale of high purity chemical products, contract custom blending, contract purification services for customer-supplied materials, and laboratory analysis/down-packing services. It sells directly to semiconductor wafer fabrication facilities and integrated circuit manufacturers worldwide via an enterprise field-sales motion, with global shipping from its single Michigan facility and packaging ranging from sample sizes to full truckloads. Custom formulations, full traceability with 10-year lot records, and SEMI-compliant batch verification create switching costs once a customer qualifies a specific blend.

Trace Zero is part of the Taube Family of Companies, a Michigan-based group of fluid delivery, process filtration, and custom chemical systems firms founded by Frank Taube. The company has 11-50 employees, no disclosed external institutional investment, and no public listing. Its strategy centers on serving as a niche, high-purity custom blender and purifier for semiconductor chemical mechanical planarization, photolithography, wet etch, and post-CMP cleaning applications, leveraging its proprietary purification IP and the broader Taube portfolio's filtration and process control capabilities.

Name

Trace Zero

Legal name

Trace Zero

Website

https://trace-zero.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Trace Zero is a private specialty chemicals manufacturer in Auburn Hills, Michigan that produces ultra-high purity aqueous chemical solutions and offers custom blending, contract purification, and laboratory analysis services for the global semiconductor manufacturing industry.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Semiconductor Specialty Chemicals

NAICS

Chemical Manufacturing (325), All Other Basic Organic Chemical Manufacturing (325199), Basic Chemical Manufacturing (3251)

SIC

Industrial Organic Chemicals (2860), Chemicals & Allied Products (2800)

akta.pro primary industry

Purification, Filtration & Packaging for High-Purity Chemicals (PFA/UPW compatibility, subfab delivery) (IMAEAKAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

Electronic-Grade Solvents, Filtration & Purification (UHP Solvents/Filters/Resins) (HDAHAGAO), Electronic & High-Purity Specialty Chemicals (IMAEABAD)

Keywords

• High purity chemicals
• Semiconductor wet chemistry
• Chemical purification services
• Custom chemical blending
• Ultra pure chemistry

Headquarters

HQ city

Auburn Hills

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. High Purity Chemical Products: Sale of high purity chemical products including malonic acid and citric acid solutions (5-50% concentrations) to semiconductor manufacturers. Products are purified, filtered, and verified to meet customer specifications before delivery. Sold in various packaging from sample sizes to bulk totes.
2. Custom Chemical Blending Services: Contract custom blending services where Trace Zero transforms raw materials into highly pure chemistries to meet specific customer requirements. From simple to complex solutions with proprietary blends meeting exact customer specifications. Full product lifecycle support from lab scale to commercialization.
3. Contract Purification Services: Purification services utilizing proprietary systems to remove trace metals, halogens, and foreign particulate from customer-provided materials while maintaining product composition integrity.
4. Laboratory Analysis Services: Laboratory chemical analysis services including ICP-MS trace element analysis, potentiometric titration, pH testing, moisture content, turbidity testing, and metals testing for semiconductor-grade chemicals.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Trace Zero manufactures and sells ultra-high purity aqueous chemical solutions — principally malonic acid and citric acid (5–50% concentrations), plus surfactants, organic acids, amino acids, heterocyclic compounds, alcohols, glycols, and sugar-alcohols — for the semiconductor industry. The company also delivers standalone contract purification, custom chemical blending, encapsulated capsule filtration (Quick Connect), precision chemical down packing into cleanroom single-use containers, and ICP-MS laboratory analysis services, all validated against SEMI C1 and C10 guidelines under an ISO 9001:2015 quality system.

Product overview

Trace Zero is a high purity chemical products and services company serving the semiconductor industry. The core product portfolio centers on Malonic Acid and Citric Acid as foundational high purity aqueous solutions (5-50% concentrations). These are complemented by a suite of services including Custom Chemical Blending, Contract Purification using a proprietary purification system, High Purity Surfactants purification, and Encapsulated Filtration Solutions (Quick Connect capsules). The company also provides Laboratory Analysis and Quality Assurance services leveraging ICP-MS technology and Precision Chemical Down Packing for packaging into various container sizes. All offerings operate under ISO 9001:2015 certified quality management systems with SEMI-compliant analytical methods.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Malonic Acid High purity aqueous solutions of malonic acid in concentrations ranging from 5% to 50%, processed, purified, filtered, and verified to meet customer specifications; used by semiconductor manufacturers for chemical mechanical planarization slurries and related applications.
• Citric Acid High purity aqueous solutions of citric acid in concentrations ranging from 5% to 50%, processed, purified, filtered, and contaminant levels verified to meet customer specifications; used in semiconductor manufacturing processes.
• High Purity Surfactants Purified aqueous nonionic surfactants with a proprietary purification technique that removes impurities while allowing for improved wettability of etchants and substrates; available in custom formulations for semiconductor wet etch and cleaning processes.
• Custom Chemical Blending Bespoke chemical blending service that transforms raw materials into highly pure chemistries meeting exact customer specifications, taking products from idea through lab scale testing, pilot scale sampling, and final commercialization.
• Contract Purification Purification service that uses a proprietary, configurable purification system to remove potentially problematic impurities from customer-provided or sourced chemicals without altering underlying product composition.
• Encapsulated Filtration Solutions (Quick Connect Capsules) Disposable polypropylene filter capsules that seal and encapsulate industry-standard 2-inch to 40-inch length filter cartridges, with vent and drain options and O-ring seal seating for in-line C-clamp manifold installation.
• Laboratory Analysis & Quality Assurance Standalone laboratory chemical analysis service including ICP-MS trace metals analysis, anion analysis, pH, moisture content, turbidity testing, and compliance verification against SEMI standards for purity and quality of every batch.
• Precision Chemical Down Packing Cleanroom-grade filtration and down-packing service that converts bulk hazardous chemicals into ultra-pure single-use containers (pails, drums, totes), with multi-stage filtration from 10 µm to 20 nm and ±0.2 kg fill accuracy tolerance.

Quantifiable outcome

• Filtration down to ≤0.05 µm ensures particle-free chemicals
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Taube Family of CompaniescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTrace Zero is part of the Taube Family of Companies, a Michigan-based group of manufacturing and engineering firms specializing in fluid delivery, process filtration, and custom chemical systems. Portfolio includes Trace Zero, Precise Finishing Systems, Systems Specialties, Precise Power Systems, and J&R Design serving automotive, energy, chemical processing, and semiconductor industries.
• Precise Finishing SystemscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOriginal pilot plant location for Trace Zero founded in 2009 at Precise Finishing Systems in Howell, Michigan. First products (semiconductor grade malonic and citric acid) were developed at this facility.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Merck Electronics (Versum Materials): Merck's Electronics business (built around Versum Materials) supplies ultra-pure chemicals, CMP slurries, and gas delivery to semiconductor manufacturers globally. Direct overlap with Trace Zero in high-purity wet chemistries and filtration, but at vastly greater scale and with multi-site manufacturing.
• JSR Corporation: JSR supplies electronic materials including photoresists, CMP slurries, and packaging materials for semiconductor fabs. Comparable end-market exposure to Trace Zero through CMP and wet-process chemistries, though JSR is significantly larger and more diversified.
• Avantor: Avantor distributes and manufactures high-purity chemicals and materials for semiconductor, biopharma, and electronics customers. Overlaps with Trace Zero in custom blending, toll purification, and high-purity chemical supply for wafer fabs.
• Honeywell Electronic Materials: Honeywell supplies high-purity electronic chemicals, etchants, and process materials to semiconductor manufacturers. Overlaps with Trace Zero in wet-etch and cleaning chemistries, but operates as a broad incumbent across many chemistries and geographies.
• CMC Materials (Entegris): CMC Materials (now part of Entegris) was a leading CMP slurry and polishing pad supplier to semiconductor fabs. Highly comparable end-market and chemistry overlap with Trace Zero's CMP-input products.
• Entegris: Entegris is a major U.S. supplier of specialty chemicals, materials, and fluid handling for semiconductor fabs, including CMP slurries and high-purity chemistries. Comparable to Trace Zero as a direct buyer of high-purity electronic chemicals, though Entegris serves a much broader portfolio across the wafer lifecycle.
• BASF Electronic Materials: BASF supplies a wide range of electronic-grade chemicals, including high-purity acids, solvents and auxiliaries for semiconductor manufacturing. Comparable chemistry portfolio to Trace Zero, but BASF is a global integrated chemical major with much broader scale.

Direct peers

• Kanto Chemical: Kanto Chemical is a Japanese manufacturer of high-purity reagents and electronic chemicals used in semiconductor wet processing. Comparable to Trace Zero in the niche of ultra-high-purity liquid chemicals with strict trace-metal specifications, though at larger scale and broader product set.
• Fujimi Incorporated: Fujimi is a Japanese specialty chemical manufacturer focused on CMP slurries and high-purity polishing compounds for semiconductor wafers. Closely comparable to Trace Zero's malonic/citric acid slurry-input business and overall high-purity semiconductor chemicals model.

Others

• Versum Materials (legacy entity references): Pre-merger Versum Materials was a pure-play electronic materials supplier covering deposition, CMP, and cleaning chemistries for semiconductor fabs. Direct product overlap with Trace Zero; relevant as a historical comparable for specialty electronic-chemicals businesses.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/TraceZeroChemicals
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/trace-zero

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

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 Trace Zero