Vertical Semiconductor

About Vertical Semiconductor

Vertical Semiconductor is a deep-tech startup spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that develops vertical gallium nitride (GaN) transistors to address power delivery bottlenecks in AI data centers. The company was co-founded by CEO Cynthia Liao, Dr. Josh Perozek, and Professor Tomás Palacios. The technology is the result of a decade of research from MIT's Palacios Group, a prominent GaN research laboratory. Cynthia Liao holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a Master's degree from Tsinghua University, while Dr. Perozek and Professor Palacios provide the core technical expertise from their work at MIT.

The company's core product is a scalable transistor platform featuring vertical GaN transistors, a departure from the traditional lateral design of semiconductors. This vertical architecture allows for higher power density, better thermal management, and more efficient power conversion by enabling the electrical current to flow through the bulk of the GaN wafer. Key benefits include a reduction in energy loss and heat, which allows data centers to operate more cooling and support higher voltages. The technology can improve energy efficiency by up to 30% and reduce the power system's physical footprint by as much as 50%.

Vertical Semiconductor targets the AI and data center market, where increasing computational demands are causing significant strain on power infrastructure. By moving power conversion closer to the AI chips, the company's solution aims to unlock new levels of performance and sustainability for modern computing. The business model appears to be focused on designing and supplying these specialized components to data center operators and hardware manufacturers. The technology has been demonstrated on 8-inch wafers using standard CMOS manufacturing methods, which suggests a strategy of seamless integration into the existing semiconductor supply chain.

In October 2025, the company announced an $11 million seed funding round led by Playground Global, with participation from JIMCO Technology Ventures, milemark•capital, and Shin-Etsu Chemical. This capital is intended to accelerate development, with plans to begin sampling prototype packaged devices by the end of 2025 and to offer a fully integrated solution in 2026.