April 24, 2006 – Qcept Technologies Inc., Atlanta, GA, a developer of surface inspection systems for semiconductor manufacturing, has closed a follow-on Series B round of funding, led by Siemens Venture Capital GmbH, a subsidiary of Siemens AG, along with Pittco Capital Management and other existing investors. Funds will be used to accelerate product development, sales, and marketing brand awareness.

“Qcept’s revolutionary Chemetriq wafer inspection platform has the potential not only to improve semiconductor manufacturing process control, but also to extend into other areas that are of interest to Siemens as a leading global technology provider,” said Todd Jaquez-Fissori, investment partner, corporate fund, Siemens Venture Capital.

The company was a participant in last year’s Technology Innovation Showcase at Semicon West. Its technology uses electrical field gradients or contact potential differences between the probe and the surface as it scans across the wafer, detecting the different work functions of the different materials on the surface, to make a map of the chemical nonuniformities across the wafer that cannot be seen with optical tools. The company claims its tool has been proven at one chipmaker and is being tested at a second. It also says it’s working with three of the largest MEMS manufacturers, to map organic vs. inorganic areas to detect where there are problems with anti-stiction film not covering the wafer. David Lam is chairman of the company’s board.

Qcept closed its initial $4.0 million Series B round of funding in May 2004, and an add-on of $3.25 million in funding in Dec. 2005, also led by Siemens Venture Capital.