Government of Canada invests in Ranovus to further advance Canada’s semiconductor industry

From: Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

News release

This project will support the expansion of one of Canada’s most promising homegrown companies

March 27, 2023 – Ottawa, Ontario

Semiconductors, often called chips or microchips, are critical to Canada’s national security, economy and technological interests and, more importantly, to Canadians’ daily lives, as they are essential to the functioning of phones, computers, cars and appliances. That is why the Government of Canada is committed to collaborating with Canadian industry and investing in semiconductor innovation and manufacturing.

Today, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced a $36 million contribution through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) to Ottawa-based Ranovus Inc. to support a $100 million project that will advance the domestic production and manufacturing of semiconductor products and services, while positioning Canada as a key player in this strategic industry.

This project aims to develop the highest performing and most power-efficient technologies for interconnect computer chips for next-generation artificial intelligence work. This will further leverage Canadian semiconductor and compound semiconductor manufacturing capacity and silicon photonics expertise, allowing Ranovus to remain a leader in its field while contributing to significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from data centres.

With this contribution, Ranovus will also increase its highly skilled workforce in Canada to 200 full-time employees and provide opportunities to 150 Canadian co-op students. This contribution is part of the Government of Canada’s intellectual property (IP) rich initiative, ensuring that innovative, IP-rich firms are grown into world leaders. This will help accelerate Ranovus’s development of IP in Canada, as this project is expected to produce 40 new patents.

Quotes

“Semiconductors are part of our everyday life. They are in our phones, our cars and our appliances. Through this investment, we are supporting Canadian innovators, helping creating good jobs and IP, and developing Canada’s semiconductor industry to build a more resilient economy. Canada will continue to play a leading role in the rapidly growing semiconductor industry, helping to strengthen and secure the North American supply chain.”
– The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry

“Canada’s domestic semiconductor sector plays a critical role in powering the technology we rely on. Today's $36 million investment in Ranovus Inc. will advance Canada’s position as a world leader in the field of semiconductor manufacturing and silicon photonics.”
– Jenna Sudds, Member of Parliament for Kanata–Carleton and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Women, Gender Equality, and Youth

“The computing power for training artificial intelligence systems has grown by 300,000 times over the past 5 years, based on the recent OpenAI study. To support this unprecedented growth, thousands of computer chips must be interconnected with massive data pipes to create an artificial intelligence cluster. In 2022, Ranovus delivered ODIN®, the world’s fastest, smallest and lowest power consumption AI interconnect chip. ODIN® consumes 75% less power, is 80% smaller than its closest rival and is scaling into production in the next 9 months with Tier 1 U.S. customers. We are investing $100 million to further scale our next-generation AI interconnect platform and are delighted by the continued support of the Strategic Innovation Fund to help keep Canada at the leading edge of the next generation of AI native infrastructure.”
– Hamid Arabzadeh, Chairman and CEO, Ranovus Inc.

Quick facts

  • Ranovus, established in 2012 by a group of technology industry veterans, is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario. The company is focused on next-generation technology that targets the internal communication networks of data centres and offers significant power and cost savings compared to existing technology. 

  • Building on previous work supported through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), this project includes the development of a single-chip optical engine that would allow fibre optics to replace electrical circuits in high‑performance computers for data centre servers. Ranovus’s development of cost-efficient energy connectivity solutions will enable data centres to handle the growing demand for more complex artificial intelligence and machine learning applications, offering significant power and cost savings, enabling faster connections, and helping achieve a 13.5% power consumption reduction.  

  • SIF first funded Ranovus in 2018 with $20 million to support the development and construction of next-generation data infrastructure centres designed to reduce the environmental impact of data processing while also doubling the capacity of these centres.

  • In the 2020 Fall Economic Statement, the government allocated $250 million to SIF to help Canada’s most innovative IP-rich firms and industries weather the pandemic and grow into world leaders.

  • In February 2022, the Government of Canada launched the Semiconductor Challenge Callout, a $150 million allocation from SIF to bolster the development and manufacturing of semiconductors in Canada.

  • Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and United States President Joe Biden agreed to facilitate investment to promote secure and resilient semiconductor supply chains and advance a cross-border semiconductor manufacturing corridor. The Government of Canada signed a memorandum of understanding with IBM to expand domestic research and development as well as advanced packaging of semiconductors. 

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Contacts

Laurie Bouchard
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry
laurie.bouchard@ised-isde.gc.ca

Media Relations
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
media@ised-isde.gc.ca

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