Highlights

• Sunrise Energy Metals (ASX: SRL) has completed its US$5 million strategic Investment in Agni Semiconductor Inc., a Philadelphia-based developer of aluminium scandium nitride (AlScN) ferroelectric diode memory chips.

• The investment represents approximately 45% of Agni's US$11 million seed round, with Sunrise Chairman Robert Friedland and CEO Sam Riggall also participating as seed round investors.

• AlScN ferroelectric diode technology stores information through reversible electric polarisation, enabling true non-volatile memory without power, with applications in defence and energy-efficient computing.

• The investment advances Sunrise's Downstream strategy to build a scandium value chain from its Syerston Scandium Project in NSW to high-value end-use applications.

Sunrise Energy Metals Limited (ASX:SRL) (OTCQX: SREMF), an ASX-listed critical minerals company developing the Syerston Scandium Project in central-west New South Wales, has announced the completion of its previously disclosed US$5 million strategic investment in Agni Semiconductor Inc. The investment, structured as participation in Agni's seed funding round, provides Sunrise with an approximately 45% interest in the seed round and aligns the company with one of the most active areas of materials-driven innovation in the global semiconductor industry.

Agni Semiconductor and AlScN Technology

Agni Semiconductor is a Philadelphia-headquartered company founded in 2024 to commercialise aluminium scandium nitride (AlScN) ferroelectric diode technology for non-volatile memory applications. AlScN is a ferroelectric semiconductor in which scandium is alloyed into the aluminium nitride lattice. The resulting material stores an electric polarisation state without applied power, enabling true non-volatile memory operation — meaning stored data is retained even when power is removed. This distinguishes it from charge-storage memories that lose data at power-off, as well as from magnetic and resistive memories that rely on metallic filament formation or magnetic tunnel junctions.

Peer-reviewed publications by Agni's founding team, which includes professors from the University of Pennsylvania and former DARPA program managers, have demonstrated that AlScN is compatible with standard semiconductor back-end-of-line fabrication processes, can be deposited as ultra-thin films, and exhibits strong write endurance, low switching voltages and high-speed switching. The technology was awarded the Bell Labs Prize in 2022 as one of the most important emerging electronics technologies. Applications include memory for defence industrial base partners needing high-temperature and radiation-resistant operation, and for energy-efficient computing in an era of rapidly growing data centre energy demand.

Strategic Rationale: Building the Scandium Value Chain

From Sunrise's perspective, the Agni investment is a downstream strategy to accelerate development of the scandium value chain. Scandium's emerging applications in semiconductors, advanced aluminium alloys and fuel cells represent new, high-value Demand channels that could support the economic case for the Syerston Scandium Project. By becoming a strategic partner with an active semiconductor developer using scandium-containing materials, Sunrise positions itself to benefit from both the Upstream production of scandium at Syerston and the downstream growth in AlScN-based semiconductor adoption. The investment aligns with broader government priorities around critical minerals Supply chain resilience and sovereign semiconductor capability.

Application of Funds and Project Status

Agni will use the seed round proceeds to accelerate its current work on the manufacturability of AlScN-based chips and foundry qualification — the critical step toward commercial production. Sunrise's investment represents approximately 45% of the US$11 million seed round, with the balance coming from other participants including Sunrise's own chairman and CEO. Sunrise continues to develop the Syerston Scandium Project, one of the world's largest and highest-grade scandium deposits, alongside its nickel-cobalt laterite project, as it pursues the transition from exploration and project development to production.

Key Insights

The Agni investment directly addresses a strategic gap in Sunrise's Business model by creating exposure to downstream scandium demand — specifically the semiconductor sector — which is a potentially large and growing market for the metal.

AlScN's compatibility with existing semiconductor fabrication processes is a key advantage that reduces commercialisation risk compared to technologies requiring entirely new Manufacturing infrastructure.

The participation of Sunrise's chairman and CEO in the seed round alongside the company creates alignment of management interests with the investment's success.

The defence and national security applications of AlScN memory, combined with US government interest in critical minerals supply chains, provide a potentially well-funded avenue for early commercial adoption of the technology.