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Based in San Francisco, California, Diamond Foundry produces lab-grown single-crystal diamonds using zero-emission energy for both luxury jewelry and industrial semiconductor applications. The company has scaled to become the top global producer of single-crystal diamonds, aiming to replace mined gems and enable advanced diamond-based microchips. Operating a direct-to-consumer business model, the firm expanded its retail footprint following the 2016 acquisition of the jewelry brand VRAI. The enterprise is backed by prominent investors including Leonardo DiCaprio, Fine Day Ventures, and Invariantes Fund, while the founding team previously raised $640 million for a prior solar venture. In addition to receiving a blessing from Pope Francis in 2021, the organization collaborated with designer Jony Ive to create an all-diamond ring that auctioned for $450,000. Diamond Foundry was founded in 2012 by Martin Roscheisen, Jeremy Scholz, and Kyle Gazay.
Diamond Foundry has raised $150.0M across 2 funding rounds.
Diamond Foundry has raised $150.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Diamond Foundry has raised $150.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Diamond Foundry's investors include At One Ventures, Invariantes Fund, 14W, ACME Capital, Advisors Fund LLC, AME Cloud Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, Binary Capital, BoxGroup, Catapult Capital, Cherubic Ventures, Chicago Ventures.
Diamond Foundry has raised $150.0M across 2 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $100.0M Series B in September 2018.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 1, 2018 | $100M Series B | — | AT ONE Ventures, Invariantes Fund | Announced |
| Nov 1, 2015 | $50M Series A | — | 14W, ACME Capital, Advisors Fund LLC, AME Cloud Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, Binary Capital, BoxGroup, Catapult Capital, Cherubic Ventures, Chicago Ventures, CP Ventures, Eniac Ventures, Freestyle Capital, Gaorong Capital, General Catalyst, Hardware Club, ICONIQ Capital, IDG Ventures, InterWest, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Long Journey Ventures, Maveron, Tony Florence, Norwest Venture Partners, Offline Ventures, Prefix Capital, Presence Capital, PruVen Capital, Quiet Capital, Alexander Rosen, Saturn Partners, Slow Ventures, Softbank Group, South Park Commons, ThirdLove, Tribe Capital, Venrock, Winklevoss Capital, Bill TAI, JOE Greenstein, Joshua Schachter, Mark Pincus, Michael Birch, Rudy Gadre, Ryan Sarver, Scott Banister, Shervin Pishevar | Announced |
# Diamond Foundry: Reshaping Semiconductors with Lab-Grown Diamond
Diamond Foundry is a technology company that manufactures single-crystal diamond wafers to solve thermal limitations in advanced computing, electric vehicles, and wireless communications.[3] Founded by MIT, Stanford, and Princeton engineers, the company applies plasma physics and chemical vapor deposition techniques—originally developed for solar power—to grow lab-created diamonds at scale.[1][2] Rather than competing in the traditional jewelry market alone, Diamond Foundry has pivoted toward semiconductor applications, positioning diamond as a superior thermal conductor for next-generation chips where heat dissipation is the primary bottleneck limiting performance.
The company operates with a 30-year master plan: first establishing sustainably created diamonds in jewelry (2013+), then introducing single-crystal diamond wafers for semiconductor applications (2023+), and ultimately positioning diamond as a replacement semiconductor material by 2033.[4] This long-term vision reflects the founders' belief that profitability and iterative innovation—not moonshot bets—drive sustainable technology breakthroughs.
Diamond Foundry was founded in 2012 by Martin Roscheisen and Jeremy Scholz, both with deep expertise in advanced materials and energy systems.[5] The founding insight emerged from the team's prior work in solar power technology: if plasma physics techniques could harness the sun's energy, similar methods could synthesize diamonds atom-by-atom in controlled environments.[1][2]
The company raised approximately $315 million in funding from a prestigious investor syndicate including Fidelity, Google founding investor Andy Bechtolsheim, iPod co-creator Tony Fadell, eBay founding president Jeff Skoll, Twitter founder Evan Williams, Facebook co-founder Andrew McCollum, actor Leonardo DiCaprio, and businessman Jean Pigozzi.[5] After three years of stealth-mode development, Diamond Foundry emerged with direct-to-consumer sales through its jewelry brand VRAI, which it acquired in 2016.[5] A pivotal moment came when VRAI partnered with designers Jony Ive and Marc Newson to create a diamond ring for Bono's (RED) initiative, auctioned at Sotheby's Art Basel—validating both the product quality and brand positioning.[2]
The company achieved profitability through its 100% hydroelectric-powered foundry in Wenatchee, Washington, enabling it to fund deeper innovation beyond venture capital horizons.[2] In 2023, Diamond Foundry achieved a watershed moment: creating the world's first single-crystal diamond wafer, a breakthrough comparable to the invention of the silicon wafer in 1959.[2][3]
Diamond Foundry sits at the intersection of three converging mega-trends: the thermal wall in semiconductor scaling, the electrification of transportation, and the computational demands of artificial intelligence. As traditional silicon approaches physical limits in heat dissipation, diamond's thermal conductivity (5x superior to silicon) becomes strategically critical rather than merely advantageous.[3][4]
The company's timing is fortuitous. AI chip manufacturers face exponential increases in power density; electric vehicle makers need more efficient power conversion; and 5G/6G wireless systems require better thermal management. Diamond Foundry's single-crystal wafers directly address these constraints at the foundational level—not as an incremental improvement but as a potential paradigm shift.
By controlling both the material science and manufacturing operations, Diamond Foundry influences the broader semiconductor ecosystem's trajectory. Its success could reshape supply chains, force competitors to invest in alternative thermal solutions, and establish diamond as a critical strategic material alongside silicon.
Diamond Foundry represents a rare combination: a company with a credible 30-year vision, the capital and profitability to execute it, and a product addressing genuine physical constraints in computing. The Spain fab announcement signals confidence in near-term demand and positions the company to capture market share as semiconductor manufacturers begin qualifying diamond wafers for production.
The critical inflection point arrives in the next 2-3 years: whether major chipmakers (NVIDIA, TSMC, Intel, Samsung) will adopt diamond wafers at scale, or whether silicon alternatives and incremental improvements prove sufficient. If adoption accelerates, Diamond Foundry could become as foundational to advanced semiconductors as ASML is to chip manufacturing today. The company's path from jewelry to semiconductors mirrors how transformative materials often emerge—not through dedicated semiconductor research, but through adjacent innovation applied to an entirely new domain.
