Malaysia's FusionAP raises $2M to build advanced chip packaging
What's the deal? FusionAP, a Malaysian semiconductor firm, has raised $2M in funding from Vertex Ventures and Southern Capital Group to expand its advanced semiconductor packaging capabilities.
The company will use the capital for engineering and process integration, R&D, intellectual property development, and pilot production capacity. It has also secured a matching research grant from the Malaysia Science Endowment under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI).
FusionAP is building an outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) platform focused on 2.5D and 3D packaging technologies. It works with global design houses, foundries, and technology partners from prototype to production.
Why now? Demand for advanced semiconductor packaging has surged alongside the growth of AI applications, while global capacity remains concentrated in a handful of markets. Malaysia is targeting a 7% share of global advanced packaging by 2035.
FusionAP was founded by former Intel and TSMC executives led by Ooi Teng Chow, who previously helped build Intel's advanced packaging operations in Malaysia. The founding team includes Peter Chavart, former general manager of Intel's Disaggregation Manufacturing Organisation.
What could go wrong? At $2M, this is a modest raise for a capital-intensive industry where building production-scale facilities typically requires hundreds of millions. FusionAP will need significantly more funding to compete with established OSAT players like ASE and Amkor.
The advanced packaging market is also dominated by TSMC's CoWoS technology, making it difficult for newcomers to win contracts from major chip designers without a proven track record at scale.
The signal: FusionAP is part of a broader push to diversify the semiconductor supply chain beyond Taiwan and a few other concentrated hubs. It is a founding member of the Malaysia Advanced Packaging Consortium (MAPC) alongside SkyeChip, Inari Amertron, Pentamaster, and NSW Automation — a coalition designed to build out Malaysia's advanced packaging ecosystem.
The bet is that geopolitical risk and surging AI demand will create openings for new players in Southeast Asia. Whether a $2M seed round can seed a credible competitor in one of the world's most capital-hungry industries remains the central question.
Read more: technode.global
