FORM

Formfactor, Inc.

A maker of advanced probe cards and test systems that let chipmakers check silicon wafers for defects before they are cut into individual chips. Its MicroSpring technology, built from tiny MEMS contacts, can test everything from phone processors to high-bandwidth memory, and its systems even reach into cryogenic labs and quantum computing. Founded in 1993 by former IBM researcher Igor Khandros in a small New York lab, the company got its start with a springy wire interconnect and moved to Livermore, California, two years later.