GaN vs. Silicon: What Makes GaN So Much Better

GaN is a wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductor. Its material properties give it fundamental advantages over conventional silicon:

• Higher switching speed — GaN transistors can switch roughly 10× faster than silicon MOSFETs .
• Higher operating temperature — The wider bandgap allows reliable operation at much higher junction temperatures .
• Lower on-resistance per die area — This reduces conduction losses .
• Smaller physical size — GaN devices are roughly 10× smaller than their silicon equivalents, shrinking overall system footprint .
• Higher efficiency — The combination of lower switching and conduction losses enables >99% inverter efficiency in some implementations .
• Higher power density — Faster switching and smaller passives allow more power to be packed into less volume .

Published technical literature consistently documents these advantages. One industry comparison describes GaN transistors as “10 times faster and 10 times smaller” than silicon counterparts . Another source notes that GaN FETs have zero reverse-recovery charge, resulting in 4–5× lower switching losses than silicon .

The Three Barriers Minysa Addresses

Despite GaN’s clear advantages, widespread adoption has been blocked by three obstacles :

1. Design complexity — Driving a GaN transistor requires specialized gate-driver circuitry. It is not a drop-in replacement for silicon.
2. High system cost — The lack of integrated, application-ready solutions keeps system-level costs high.
3. Lack of plug-and-play modules — Engineers need pre-validated, easy-to-use building blocks.

Minysa’s approach is to deliver integrated GaN gate-driver ASICs and plug-and-play power modules (including system-in-package solutions) that handle the difficult driver integration and protection functions on-chip. As Venture Kick’s own profile states, Minysa’s goal is to make GaN “accessible to mainstream power electronics manufacturers” .

Target Markets: Starting with Space, Scaling to >$5B in Addressable Markets

Minysa’s initial focus is the European space power electronics sector, where radiation tolerance, efficiency, and miniaturization are critical . The company has officially joined ESA Business Incubation Centre Switzerland (ESA BIC Switzerland), gaining access to the space ecosystem and strategic partners .

Broader addressable markets worth > $5B in total include :

• Electric vehicles (EVs)
• Drones
• Aerospace
• Industrial IoT
• Robotics
• Data centers

Customer Traction and ESA Context

Public sources confirm Minysa is working on radiation-tolerant GaN ICs for space and is already engaged with space and industrial customers . The company’s ambition, as stated on its own materials, is to “build, from Switzerland, sovereign semiconductor technologies for the European space industry” .

It is important to note that the names of four specific space industry customers and two named ESA-funded programmes referenced in some inquiries are not explicitly listed in currently available public reporting (Tech.eu, Venture Kick, punkt4, Moneycab) . Earlier ESA development work on monolithic GaN integration — such as the GANIC4S programme with partners like Thales Alenia Space and IMEC — exists in the broader European GaN ecosystem, but those programmes predate Minysa’s current commercial traction and are distinct from its own product roadmap .

The Bottom Line

Minysa is tackling the hardest engineering problem in GaN power electronics: the gate driver. By integrating protection, sensing, and monitoring into a single chip, it removes the design barriers that have kept GaN from going mainstream. With €163K in fresh Venture Kick funding and a clear path from space to e-mobility, Minysa is positioning itself as a key enabler of the next generation of power systems — smaller, cooler, and radically more efficient.

GaN vs. Silicon: What Makes GaN So Much Better

GaN is a wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductor. Its material properties give it fundamental advantages over conventional silicon:

• Higher switching speed — GaN transistors can switch roughly 10× faster than silicon MOSFETs .
• Higher operating temperature — The wider bandgap allows reliable operation at much higher junction temperatures .
• Lower on-resistance per die area — This reduces conduction losses .
• Smaller physical size — GaN devices are roughly 10× smaller than their silicon equivalents, shrinking overall system footprint .
• Higher efficiency — The combination of lower switching and conduction losses enables >99% inverter efficiency in some implementations .
• Higher power density — Faster switching and smaller passives allow more power to be packed into less volume .

Published technical literature consistently documents these advantages. One industry comparison describes GaN transistors as “10 times faster and 10 times smaller” than silicon counterparts . Another source notes that GaN FETs have zero reverse-recovery charge, resulting in 4–5× lower switching losses than silicon .

The Three Barriers Minysa Addresses

Despite GaN’s clear advantages, widespread adoption has been blocked by three obstacles :

1. Design complexity — Driving a GaN transistor requires specialized gate-driver circuitry. It is not a drop-in replacement for silicon.
2. High system cost — The lack of integrated, application-ready solutions keeps system-level costs high.
3. Lack of plug-and-play modules — Engineers need pre-validated, easy-to-use building blocks.

Minysa’s approach is to deliver integrated GaN gate-driver ASICs and plug-and-play power modules (including system-in-package solutions) that handle the difficult driver integration and protection functions on-chip. As Venture Kick’s own profile states, Minysa’s goal is to make GaN “accessible to mainstream power electronics manufacturers” .

Target Markets: Starting with Space, Scaling to >$5B in Addressable Markets

Minysa’s initial focus is the European space power electronics sector, where radiation tolerance, efficiency, and miniaturization are critical . The company has officially joined ESA Business Incubation Centre Switzerland (ESA BIC Switzerland), gaining access to the space ecosystem and strategic partners .

Broader addressable markets worth > $5B in total include :

• Electric vehicles (EVs)
• Drones
• Aerospace
• Industrial IoT
• Robotics
• Data centers

Customer Traction and ESA Context

Public sources confirm Minysa is working on radiation-tolerant GaN ICs for space and is already engaged with space and industrial customers . The company’s ambition, as stated on its own materials, is to “build, from Switzerland, sovereign semiconductor technologies for the European space industry” .

It is important to note that the names of four specific space industry customers and two named ESA-funded programmes referenced in some inquiries are not explicitly listed in currently available public reporting (Tech.eu, Venture Kick, punkt4, Moneycab) . Earlier ESA development work on monolithic GaN integration — such as the GANIC4S programme with partners like Thales Alenia Space and IMEC — exists in the broader European GaN ecosystem, but those programmes predate Minysa’s current commercial traction and are distinct from its own product roadmap .

The Bottom Line

Minysa is tackling the hardest engineering problem in GaN power electronics: the gate driver. By integrating protection, sensing, and monitoring into a single chip, it removes the design barriers that have kept GaN from going mainstream. With €163K in fresh Venture Kick funding and a clear path from space to e-mobility, Minysa is positioning itself as a key enabler of the next generation of power systems — smaller, cooler, and radically more efficient.