Rogue Valley MEMS Factory Gets $6.7 Million in Chips Act Funds

RVM’s second fab, a 50,000-square-foot facility, is expected to begin producing wafers in 2025.

The company claims it will be the first pure MEMS foundry with a capacity of 300mm.

“With Rogue Valley Microdevices’ Investment in 300mm MEMS capacity at our new Palm BayFlorida fab, we are ready to provide our customers with significant competitive advantagesfacilitating their journey from initial concept to successful outcome commercialization of their “MEMS and sensor designs,” says founder and CEO Jessica Gomez (right), pictured with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.

RVM is a full-service precision MEMS foundry that combines process modules with the engineering expertise to move from custom design to production.

The company specializes in the production of MEMS and sensors, including microfluidics and lab-on-chip platforms. The company offers a flexible equipment set and the ability for customers to start with smaller batch sizes.

The company claims to offer the broadest and most comprehensive range of wafer services commercially available, with over 50 unique dielectric and conductive thin films. All services are performed in its own Class 100 cleanroom.

Gomez founded the company in 2003 with her husband, Patrick Kayatta, who is RVM’s vice president and chief technical officer.

Gomez told Fortune that they “mortgaged everything” and racked up $70,000 in credit card debt to get RVM off the ground.

“It’s really hard to be successful in production,” Gomez said, “it’s a lot of work, you have to be willing to do a lot of work.”

Last year, Gomez was a Republican candidate for governor of Oregon, but he lost the primary.