Forge Nano, a technology company in Colorado specializing in artificial intelligence chips, is going public.

The company announced it would merge with Archimedes Tech SPAC Partners II Co. and list itself on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker NANO. The merged company is valued at $1.6 billion before the public listing, making it a unicorn.

Forge Nano was founded in 2011 to support the semiconductor and battery industries and is headquartered in Thornton. The company has 120 employees, with most of them based out of Colorado, a spokesperson for the company confirmed.

“This transaction is expected to provide Forge Nano with the capital and market visibility to accelerate the next phase of our growth as we expand U.S. manufacturing of our nanocoating systems and lithium-ion batteries, deepen our role in the domestic battery supply chain and continue scaling the platform across additional industries,” said Paul Lichty, Forge Nano’s cofounder and CEO.

Archimedes II is a shell technology company specializing in mergers and helping raise money to prepare companies to go public, often faster than the traditional method. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2026.

Forge Nano has the technology meeting the needs of two critical industrial markets: semiconductors and energy storage, said Long Long, CEO at Archimedes II, in a news release.

“We believe Forge Nano is well positioned to scale its platform and look forward to supporting the team as they enter the public markets,” Long said.

Forge Nano said the investments from going public would help expand the company into data centers and quantum computing.

It has the investment backing of Volkswagen, Hanwha Aerospace, GM Ventures and LG Technology Ventures and received a $100 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, according to Forge Nano.

The initial public offering (IPO) is a source of pride for University of Colorado Boulder as Forge Nano marks the 11th unicorn company with roots in the university.

The university said the company’s ties date back to its merger with ALD NanoSolutions in 2020, which was forged in 2001 by CU Boulder’s Alan Weimer and Steven George, who created a new form of precision coating at the atomic level.

The technology could be used for batteries and several other materials, the university said, and it was awarded early-stage funding from CU Boulder and the state’s economic development office. Forge Nano also was born out of research developed at CU Boulder, the university said.

Forge Nano joins the other list of unicorns, or $1 billion startups, including Amgen, Ball Aerospace, Solid Power, SomaLogic and, most recently, Infleqtion.

CU Boulder launched 35 new companies using the university’s intellectual property in 2024, according to a news release.

In the last five years, CU’s Venture Partners generated $8.7 billion nationally and $5.1 billion for the state, according to a Leeds School of Business report.