This article was published on June 24, 2025, at 4:14 p.m. on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove site.
InnoRay, a company specialized in laser ultrasound-based inspection equipment, has secured a new investment of 6 billion won from major domestic venture capital (VC) firms. While the core business is focused on inspection equipment for secondary batteries, the company plans to utilize this investment to expand its business area into semiconductor backend processes.
According to the VC industry on the 24th, InnoRay recently carried out a new investment round of Series B type, securing new funds worth 6 billion won. This is the first new investment in about two years since securing 2 billion won from Mirae Asset Venture Investment and others in July 2023.
Company K has taken the lead as an investor and provided 2 billion won to InnoRay. Cha Jeong-hoon, the vice president who led investments in InnoRay at Mirae Asset Venture Investment, moved to Company K and made another investment. Additionally, Samsung Venture Investment and SJ Investment Partners participated as new investors.
At the time InnoRay secured investment in 2023, it attracted attention as a technology startup specializing in inspection equipment for secondary batteries. Starting as an in-house company of the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) with ultra-sound signal analysis algorithm technology, it has introduced inspection equipment for battery welds.
InnoRay has specifically launched inspection equipment that works by firing lasers at the material being inspected to generate ultrasound, followed by detecting and analyzing the signals. It has proven inspection accuracy and has been installed in test production facilities of large battery manufacturers.
However, it faced a crisis due to the worsening business conditions in secondary batteries resulting from the electric vehicle chasm. Sales, which exceeded 500 million won in 2023, fell to the 200 million won range last year, and the company has struggled with new fund procurement, leading to a negative total capital.
VCs reportedly decided to invest based on the high scalability of InnoRay's laser ultrasound-based inspection technology. They concluded that the technology for detecting and analyzing laser ultrasound signals could be expanded beyond secondary batteries to other industries, such as semiconductors.
In fact, InnoRay has recently begun expanding its business area into semiconductor backend inspection using ultra-sound signal analysis algorithm technology and laser light source technology. The goal is to apply laser ultrasound inspection equipment in the packaging area, the final stage of semiconductor manufacturing.
InnoRay plans to allocate the funds raised from new investments to the development of semiconductor backend inspection equipment technology. In particular, packaging is considered a crucial stage for producing high bandwidth memory (HBM) because it enhances semiconductor performance and power efficiency.
Vice President Cha said, "Packaging, the process of electrically connecting the system outside the chip for signal transmission, has issues where defects are not visible to the naked eye" and added, "I believe that InnoRay's technology will be able to detect internal defects that are not visible."