Dresden-based deep tech startup beeOLED has successfully secured 13.3 million euro ($14.5 million) in a Series A funding round. This funding was co-led by eCapital and Innovation Industries, with participation from KBC Focus Fund, as well as existing investors such as M Ventures (the corporate venture capital arm of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany), HTGF, TGFS, and JBN-Invest.
Founded by seasoned experts in the field of OLED technology, including Jan Blochwitz-Nimoth, a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Novaled, beeOLED is determined to address a pivotal challenge in the OLED industry. The company is striving to overcome the primary hurdle related to efficient and stable deep-blue emitters in OLED displays. This challenge has persisted despite advancements in other aspects of OLED technology.
The company’s breakthrough solution, known as intra-metallic emission technology, offers a compelling combination of high stability and efficiency for deep-blue emitters. This innovation has demonstrated its effectiveness in other display technologies previously, but integrating it into OLEDs posed a unique challenge due to the specific manufacturing processes involved. beeOLED’s team has made these molecules compatible with the existing vacuum processing techniques utilized in high-volume OLED display manufacturing. This achievement is safeguarded by multiple patents, and it has been made possible due to the team’s extensive expertise in ligand design. As a result, beeOLED’s technology seamlessly integrates with established OLED structures and manufacturing methods, boasting an impressive 100 percent internal quantum efficiency, a crucial factor for optimizing power efficiency in OLED displays.
