Nova will supply Intel with $20 million of equipment.
Intel has invested $3 million in Israeli company Nova Measuring Instruments, in exchange for 7.9% of its share capital. The deal reflects a company value of $38 million for Nova, after money. It includes an agreement for supplying $20 million in equipment to Intel over 3 years.
Among the shareholders in Nova are the Teuza fund (18.9%), and Clal Electronic Industries (28.3%), and the venture capital fund InVentec. Another shareholder is general manager Giora Dishon, who belongs to the founding group which set up the company.
Nova was set up in 1993 by a group of ex-Orbotech entrepreneurs. The company developed unique equipment for measuring the thickness of silicon wafers in the semi-conductor industry. Nova’s equipment enables manufacturers to carry out the measurement with optical technology during the manufacturing process, eliminating the need to extract the component for external checking. Measuring by this method improves manufacture and makes it more efficient, facilitating thorough control of the entire process.
Nova ended 1996 with sales of NIS 16 million, and a net loss NIS 2.2 million. By the end of 1996, the company had raised NIS 33 million capital, and its accumulated losses since it was set up amounted NIS 13.4 million. The company today employs almost 50 people. It is located in the science park in the industrial area of Rehovot.