nanoSkunkWorkX Raises $2M Seed Led by Tin Men Capital

nanoSkunkWorkX Raises $2M Seed Round Led by Tin Men Capital

Malaysian deep-tech startup nanoSkunkWorkX (nSWX) has raised a $2 million seed round led by Tin Men Capital, according to funding data dated September 2, 2026. The round marks early institutional backing for a company applying thin-film interface engineering across semiconductors, green hydrogen and diagnostics.

What the Company Does

nSWX engineers thin-film material interfaces to improve how heat, current and electronic signals move across material boundaries. That core capability is the foundation of the company's product lines.

Its lead semiconductor product, nSD-I, targets copper interconnects in advanced AI chip packaging. According to the company, the product is designed to work without requiring changes to existing manufacturing equipment — a positioning that matters for adoption in established fabrication environments.

The same interface-engineering platform is applied to two additional markets:

• Green hydrogen — aimed at reducing reliance on platinum-group metals.
• Rapid diagnostics — including a paid joint R&D biosensor programme with the US Navy Naval Medical Research Unit Indo Pacific (NAMRU INDOPAC).

Traction to Date

nSWX reports several early milestones:

• Three product lines launched
• First revenue generated
• Peer-reviewed semiconductor data published
• Selection into the inaugural SemiconStart Malaysia cohort

The paid joint R&D programme with NAMRU INDOPAC is notable for a seed-stage company, providing both a validation signal and a commercial relationship in the diagnostics vertical.

Leadership

The company is co-founded by CEO Iqbal Shamsul and Dr. Amani Salim.

• Iqbal Shamsul is MIT-trained and previously worked at Morgan Stanley.
• Dr. Amani Salim is a former NASA principal investigator.

The combination of deep technical research experience and capital-markets background is relevant for a company commercializing materials science across multiple verticals.

Why This Round Matters

The seed funding arrives as AI chip packaging has become a focal point for performance and thermal management. Interconnect behavior at material boundaries is a persistent constraint in advanced packaging, and nSWX's approach — improving interface performance without equipment changes — is designed to fit within existing manufacturing flows rather than requiring new tooling.

That said, the company operates across three distinct markets: semiconductors, green hydrogen and diagnostics. Each carries different qualification cycles, customer profiles and competitive dynamics. The seed capital will presumably support continued development and commercialization across these lines, though specific allocation was not disclosed in the funding data.

The Investor

Tin Men Capital led the round as the sole listed investor. The firm's participation provides nSWX with its first named institutional backer at the seed stage.

What to Watch

For observers tracking deep-tech in Southeast Asia, nSWX sits at the intersection of several themes: semiconductor supply-chain localization, hydrogen cost reduction, and defense-adjacent research partnerships. The company's progress on the NAMRU INDOPAC programme and adoption of nSD-I in AI packaging will be key indicators of whether its platform approach translates across verticals.

With first revenue, peer-reviewed data and a paid defense-linked R&D programme already in place, nSWX enters its seed period with more validation than is typical at this stage — but also with the challenge of focusing resources across three demanding markets.