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Private Semiconductor
News and business intelligence
Intersil to Acquire Rock Semiconductor
MILPITAS, CA and SHANGHAI, CHINA--(Marketwire - December 15, 2009) - Intersil Corporation (NASDAQ: ISIL), a world leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance analog and mixed-signal semiconductors, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Rock Semiconductor, a privately-held, fabless semiconductor company with technology leadership in highly integrated power management ICs.
Rock Semiconductor provides high-performance analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits for wireless, audio, video and data communications solutions. Rock's products are primarily used in the consumer end market in applications such as cellular phones, personal navigation devices, portable multimedia players and other types of popular consumer electronics products.
"Rock Semiconductor's products are a perfect fit with Intersil's rapidly expanding portfolio of power management, audio and communications ICs," said Dave Bell, Intersil's CEO. "In addition, the acquisition of Rock will immediately give Intersil a greatly expanded presence in the burgeoning local Chinese market."
"We are delighted to join the Intersil team," said Ye Song, General Manager, Rock Semiconductor. "Having access to Intersil's global network of engineering, manufacturing and marketing resources will accelerate our time-to-market for new products and enable the combined companies to penetrate new markets even faster."
Rock has design centers in Shanghai and Wuhan, China. "Intersil is committed to expanding its business through both organic growth and strategic acquisitions," said Dave Bell. "Rock's team of highly experienced analog and mixed-signal design engineers will immediately increase our design capability and ability to serve hundreds of Chinese and global customers."
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Labels: Intersil, Rock Semiconductor
RedMere Closes US$5.6m Funding Round
Dublin, Ireland – December 10th 2009 – RedMere, the leading supplier of smart active cable solutions, has secured US$5.6 million in Series "B" funding which was led by Celtic House Venture Partners, Toronto. The round follows major design wins for the company's products in US and European markets for HDMI smart cables.
EdgeStone Capital Partners (Toronto) and Enterprise Equity (Dublin) also participated in this funding round.
"Our EyeWire active chipset has now been adopted in Home Theatre and Camera cable applications worldwide. The thin nature of the cables makes them easy to route and hide, and their reduced weight makes them ideal for portability. This funding round will be used primarily to expand our penetration into the camera and mobile handset (Smartphone) markets", commented Peter Smyth, CEO RedMere. "These cables are ultra thin, about 2mm in diameter, perfect for carrying with these portable applications".
RedMere's EyeWire chip technology removes up to 80% of the copper used in hi-definition video cables by placing a self-powered chip in cables. The chip embeds signal processing technology directly into the cable structure to improve bandwidth performance and guarantees support for all HDMI data rates including the latest HDMI V1.4.
About RedMere
In a world where connection speed increases, RedMere enables easy to use, high quality, smart connectivity for The Home, On the Move and The Office. These new active cable systems deliver the ultimate in compact digital connectivity over HDMI, DisplayPort and USB for Video and Still Cameras, Smartphones, HDTV, Blu-Ray DVD, PS3 and Xbox, as well as enterprise solutions using Infiniband and PCI Express. RedMere provides cable-embedded semiconductors and advanced cable reference designs to cable industry leaders and manufacturing partners. RedMere is a private company with lead investors Celtic House Venture Partners and EdgeStone Capital Partners.
Labels: RedMere
Arteris Raises $9.7M as Qualcomm and ARM Join Existing Investors
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Arteris Inc., a leading interconnect IP solutions provider, announced today that it has raised the first tranche of a strategic investment round totaling $9.7 million from a group of investors led by Qualcomm Incorporated and including ARM. These two new investors join existing investors, Synopsys, DoCoMo Capital, Crescendo Ventures, TVM Capital and Ventech, who also participated in this round. Arteris is the pioneer of Network on Chip (NoC) interconnect IP solutions and supplies its technology to leading SoC makers for wide range of applications. Arteris will use the financing to expand its global sales and customer support infrastructure to further accelerate adoption of its Interconnect IP and design tool solutions.
"We see the Network on Chip technology as an enabling technology in designing complex SoCs at 40 nanometer processes and beyond," said Frederic Rombaut, Managing Director, Qualcomm Ventures Europe. "As process technology advances and individual integrated circuits become more complex, there needs to be a new approach to integrating and managing all the functionality on a single chip."
"This investment is central to our strategy of creating a heterogeneous interconnect eco-system around the AMBA® specification, upon which our mutual customers can design and connect a variety of innovative IP, complementary protocols and services," said Keith Clarke, General Manager, Fabric IP, ARM. "We will work with Arteris to ensure that ARM® silicon partners have access to the broadest range of AMBA and multi-standard interconnect solutions. Our goal is to have the Arteris technology interoperate with AMBA protocol-based IP and so accelerate deployment of ARM processors in SoC designs."
"The addition of Qualcomm and ARM to the group of investors who are backing Arteris is another endorsement of our interconnect technology approach, and will bring more semiconductor industry expertise to our team. We have demonstrated, by SoC tapeouts, production silicon and delivery of Arteris connected end products to consumers, that the Arteris NoC technology improves complex SoC design quality while reducing design cycle time compared to existing hybrid bus interconnect approaches. We are aiming to deepen the interoperability of the Arteris NoC technology with ARM processors, and AMBA interconnect protocol standards to help SoC makers and system houses improve capability and delivery of advanced SoC semiconductors," said K. Charles Janac, President and CEO of Arteris.
About Arteris
Arteris, Inc. provides semiconductor interconnect IP, and tools to improve communication performance of ICs for wide range of applications. Results obtained by using Arteris IP product line include lower power, higher performance, lower risk of development and faster delivery of simple to complex ICs, SoCs and FPGAs.
Founded by networking experts, Arteris operates globally with headquarters in San Jose, California and an engineering center in Paris, France. Arteris is a private company backed by a group of international investors including ARM Holdings, Crescendo Ventures, DoCoMo Capital, Qualcomm Incorporated, Synopsys, TVM Capital, , and Ventech. More information can be found at http://www.arteris.com.
Labels: Arteris
SiTune Corporation Secures Series B Financing with Greenlane Investments LLC
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SiTune Corporation, a leader in CMOS radio-frequency (RF) and mixed signal solutions for mobile, cable and terrestrial TV, announced that it has secured its Series B financing with current investor Greenlane Investments LLC. SiTune will use the proceeds of the new financing for ramping production of its latest generation of state of the art Mobile Digital TV and Universal CMOS TV tuners based upon its P2TUNE architecture and grow its international sales infrastructure.
"The message from our customers and partners in ASIA pacific and North America validities a strong demand for SiTune's Multiple Standard RF CMOS TV Tuners," said Vahid Toosi President and CEO of SiTune Corporations. "In order to address the imminent volume, we are ramping up our production infrastructure and aggressively expanding our International presence to support and expand our customer base."
"Greenlane is pleased about its investments in SiTune Technology and corresponding Market. SiTune has been the technology leader for high performance, ultra low power and highly integrated CMOS TV Tuners," said Dr. Sam Heidari, managing partner at Greenlane Investments LLC. "Technology development phase of SiTune has been flawless. We are excited to participate with SiTune as it demonstrates the leadership to rapidly expand the Digital Mobile TV and worldwide CMOS TV Tuner market."
Labels: SiTune
Aquantia Announces $44M Financing
Milpitas, Calif., December 1, 2009 -- Aquantia, the leading developer of mainstream 10GBASE-T PHY solutions, has just completed its Series D financing, bringing $35 million immediately and up to $44 million in time to the company. This fresh injection of capital enables scaling of Aquantia's product portfolio to fully serve the accelerated transition to 10G Ethernet in Enterprise and Data Center markets.
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) led the round, with participation from Aquantia's existing investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Greylock Partners, Pinnacle Ventures, Venture Tech Alliance. In conjunction with the financing, NEA Partner Rohini Chakravarthy will join the board of directors.
"NEA's strong presence in the enterprise and infrastructure areas has offered us a privileged view into the 10G Ethernet ecosystem," said Ms. Chakravarthy. "We are impressed with Aquantia's team and execution and are very bullish on Aquantia's prospects for sector leadership."
Faraj Aalaei, CEO and president of Aquantia, commented, "The size of the round and the addition of NEA as a new investor are an outstanding vote of confidence for both Aquantia and for the industry, especially given the financial market's dynamics this year. We believe this financing validates our technology leadership, our business plan and sets Aquantia apart from our privately funded competitors. Aquantia is very well-positioned to enable widespread adoption of 10GBASE-T in switches, NIC cards and LAN-on-Motherboard (LOM) in servers."
"IDC believes that corporations worldwide will accelerate their IT spending in the second half of 2010," said Shane Rau, Research Director in Computing, Networking, and Storage Semiconductors, IDC. "Due to factors like lower component pricing and the move to virtualization in the data center, 10 Gigabit Ethernet will benefit significantly. Specifically, IDC predicts that the revenue in the emerging NIC/LOM semiconductor segment of the 10GE market will grow at a CAGR over 50% from 2007 through 2012."
In May 2009 Aquantia announced the validation in 40nm of the world's first quad 10GBASE-T IC, to deliver the critical power, density and cost performance levels needed by the data center ecosystem. Aquantia's current and newest generations of 10GBASE-T products have brought together the benefits of high-energy efficiency and high density for LOM and high-density switching implementations.
About Aquantia
With its 10GBASE-T silicon products for mainstream high-speed connectivity, Aquantia meets business needs for efficiency, lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), productivity and easy-to-use network infrastructure. The company's versatile technology platform is based on advanced signal processing, while fully leveraging the maturity of Ethernet and offering the universal appeal of the RJ45. Aquantia ICs connect multi-core data centers, applications-optimized workgroup computing and virtual server networks with one flexible low-cost and standards based architecture. Aquantia is a venture-backed private company. For more information, visit www.aquantia.com.
Labels: Aquantia
Inphi Corporation files lawsuit against Netlist Inc.
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., November 30, 2009 – Inphi Corporation, a high-speed analog semiconductor company and leading innovator in memory standards, announced today that it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Netlist Inc. (Nasdaq:NLST) in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
Inphi's lawsuit alleges that Netlist's DDR3 Registered memory modules, including their recently announced HyperCloud™, infringe on the following Inphi U.S. Patents: No: 7,307,863 and 7,479,799. The patents relate to memory interface technologies used in enterprise server and storage applications.
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Labels: Inphi
Broadcom to Acquire Dune Networks
IRVINE, Calif., Nov 30, 2009 -- Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Dune Networks, a privately-held company that develops switch fabric solutions for data center networking equipment. Data centers are scaling to provide significantly more bandwidth to meet the requirements of cloud computing, where computing resources, products and services, such as Software as a Service (SaaS), can be delivered real-time over the Internet. Dune Networks has developed a scalable chipset that supports bandwidth speeds of up to 100Gbps per port and can connect more than ten thousand servers (ports) in a single deployment.
"Dune's massively scalable interconnectfabric, combined with our Ethernet products, augments our portfolio of solutions for data center networking equipment," said Martin Lund, Vice President and General Manager, Broadcom's Network Switching line of business. "This technology is particularly well suited to meet the emerging requirements for cloud computing networks at a large scale, and will enable us to address new market applications for Ethernet in the data center."
"Dune Networks' distributed connection fabric is a complement to Broadcom's existing product suite," said Eyal Dagan, Chief Executive Officer, Dune Networks. "Our joint customers will be able to bring to market low cost, high performance data center switching that will enable end users to build next-generation cloud computing networks."
In connection with the acquisition, Broadcom expects to pay approximately $178 million, net of cash assumed from Dune Networks, to acquire all of the outstanding shares of capital stock and other rights of Dune Networks. The purchase price will be paid in cash, except that a portion of such purchase price attributable to unvested employee stock options will be paid in Broadcom restricted stock units. A portion of the cash consideration payable to the stockholders will be placed into escrow pursuant to the terms of the acquisition agreement. Excluding any purchase accounting related adjustments and fair value measurements, Broadcom expects the acquisition of Dune Networks will be neutral to slightly accretive to earnings per share in 2010. The boards of directors of the two companies have approved the merger. The closing, which is expected to occur by the end of Broadcom's first quarter ending March 31, 2010, remains subject to customary closing conditions.
Labels: Broadcom, Dune Networks
MaxLinear Files S-1 Registration Statement for Initial Public Offering
Editors note: This PR posting has been delayed by 17 days.
Carlsbad, Calif. - November 6, 2009 - MaxLinear, Inc., a leading provider of CMOS-based highly integrated, radio-frequency analog and mixed-signal semiconductor solutions for broadband communications applications, today announced that it has filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering of its Class A common stock. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the offering have not yet been determined.
Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. are acting as book-running managers for the offering. UBS Securities LLC, Thomas Weisel Partners LLC and Needham & Company, LLC are acting as co-managers for the offering.
When available, a copy of the preliminary prospectus may be obtained from Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated, 180 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014, Attn: Prospectus Department, by calling 866-718-1649 or by emailing prospectus@morganstanley.com or from Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., 100 Plaza One, Jersey City, New Jersey 07311 Attn: Prospectus Department, by calling 800-503-4611.
A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state.
Labels: MaxLinear
Telegent Systems Files Registration Statement for Proposed Initial Public Offering
Sunnyvale, CA – November 23, 2009 – Telegent Systems, Inc. today announced that it has filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") relating to the proposed initial public offering of its common shares. The number of common shares to be sold in the offering and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. Goldman, Sachs & Co. and J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. are acting as joint book-runners, and Jefferies & Company, Inc., Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. and Piper Jaffray & Co. are acting as co-managers for the proposed offering.
The proposed offering will be made only by means of a prospectus. Copies of the preliminary prospectus related to the offering may be obtained, when available, from: Goldman, Sachs & Co., 85 Broad Street, New York, NY 10004, Attention: Prospectus Department, by calling 866-471-2526 or by emailing prospectus-ny@nyemail.gs.com or J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., 4 Chase Metrotech Center, CS Level, Brooklyn, NY 11245 Attention: Chase Distribution & Support Service Northeast Statement Processing, or by calling 718-242-8002.
A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the SEC, but has not yet become effective. The securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.
About Telegent Systems, Inc.
Telegent Systems, Inc. is a fabless semiconductor company that develops and markets highly-integrated, high-performance, CMOS RF and mixed-signal system-on-a-chip solutions. Telegent's products enable the reception of live, free-to-air analog and DVB-T digital broadcast television in mobile handsets and other portable consumer devices. Telegent Systems, Inc. is incorporated in the Cayman Islands.
Labels: Telegent
Semtech Announces Definitive Agreement to Acquire Sierra Monolithics, Inc.
AMARILLO, Calif. & IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SEMTECH CORPORATION (NASDAQ: SMTC), a leading supplier of analog and mixed-signal semiconductors for high-end consumer, computing, communications and industrial equipment, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Sierra Monolithics, Inc. for $180 million in cash. Headquartered in Irvine, California with design centers in Irvine and Redondo Beach, California, Sierra Monolithics provides high performance analog ICs and solutions for a wide array of communications systems and applications. The transaction is expected to be accretive to Semtech's GAAP earnings per share within twelve months of the transaction closing and is expected to be immediately accretive to Semtech's Non-GAAP gross margins and Non-GAAP earnings per share.
Sierra Monolithics, Inc. (SMI) was founded in 1986, and has approximately 110 employees including over 60 engineers. SMI has experienced significant growth over the past few years fueled by rapid growth in traffic over both wireline and wireless telecom networks. Market growth drivers for SMI include growing video traffic over the internet, competition between cable operators and telecom carriers, emergence of datacenters, cloud computing, and wireless data services. Over the last five years, SMI has grown revenue at a compound annual growth rate of over 40%.
SMI is the recognized leader in the 40Gbps and 100Gbps SERDES space. Its 40Gbps SERDES product portfolio includes multiple chip sets which address all the major 40Gbps modulation schemes currently being deployed worldwide. These leadership products have enabled SMI to become a key supplier to almost all of the major telecom OEMs and Optical module customers offering 40Gbps solutions. Following up on its success in the 40Gbps SERDES arena, SMI was also the first semiconductor company to provide both client side as well as line side 100Gbps SERDES chip sets for the emerging 100Gbps telecom and datacom markets. In addition, SMI leverages its expertise in high frequency wireless technologies and protocols to deliver wireless solutions for high performance military and wireless networking applications.
Sierra Monolithics expects to generate approximately $50 million of revenue for calendar year 2009 with gross margins towards the high end of Semtech's stated gross margin model of 55% to 60%. Driven by its growing product portfolio and the rapid growth markets it addresses, Sierra Monolithics expects to continue the rapid growth vector it has been on over the last five years, including revenue growth of approximately 20% to 30% in calendar year 2010.
Sierra Monolithics' focus on providing leading solutions to the core communications infrastructure and leading edge defense markets enhances Semtech's value proposition to major customers in these markets. With the acquisition of Sierra Monolithics, Semtech adds an additional, high growth revenue stream to Semtech's portfolio of growth engines.
Charles Harper and Javed Patel, Sierra Monolithics President and Chief Executive Officer, will both become members of the Semtech Leadership Team reporting to Mohan Maheswaran after the closing of the transaction.
Under terms of the agreement and plan of merger, Semtech will pay the stockholders of Sierra Monolithics $180 million in cash at the closing. In addition, at the closing Semtech will also assume the existing unvested options of Sierra Monolithics' employees valued at approximately $8 million and at closing will grant to employees additional equity incentives up to $12 million in value. $18 million of the cash consideration will be placed into escrow for twelve months in order to meet any indemnifiable claims pursuant to the terms of the definitive agreement. The transaction will be funded with Semtech's existing cash reserves. In association with repatriating cash domiciled overseas to fund the transaction, Semtech expects to incur a one-time tax liability of approximately $33 million in Q3 FY10. The closing of the transaction remains subject to closing conditions, including the expiration or termination of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act waiting period and obtaining other required consents.
Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated provided exclusive financial advisory services to Semtech and Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP served as legal counsel for Semtech. Jefferies & Company, Inc. served as financial advisor to Sierra Monolithics and Morrison & Foerster LLP served as legal counsel for Sierra Monolithics.
Labels: Semtech, Sierra Monolithics
picoChip attracts $20 Million investment to accelerate growth
Bath, UK - November 18th, 2009: - picoChip today announced that it has completed a $20 million funding round. Already the dominant supplier for femtocell silicon, supporting all the major HSPA carrier deployments, this additional investment will help picoChip extend its leadership and grasp the growing market opportunity in the femtocell sector.
"This investment comes as the market is taking off for picoChip: it is testament to what we have already achieved, and our investors' belief in our future," said picoChip's CEO Nigel Toon. "picoChip was the pioneer in femtocell technology and we are delighted to see our customers and partners deploying in volume in the rapidly developing global femtocell market. Our customers are already benefiting from picoChip's substantial head-start, field-proven robust products and unparalleled experience in this market. This investment strengthens our balance sheet and fully funds us through to IPO."
picoChip's investors include financial investors, Atlas Venture, Highland Capital Partners, Pond Venture Partners, Scottish Equity Partners, and Rothschild plus strategic investors AT&T, Intel and Samsung. This fresh injection of capital from top tier VCs and institutional investors comes at a time when technology VC investment has decreased markedly, with backers choosing their investments carefully and only the strongest companies able to secure finance.
Dan Rosen, Principal at Highland Capital Partners, commented, "At Highland, we invest in companies that can establish leadership in explosive, high-growth markets. We are very excited about picoChip's prospects in the Femtocell market. The company continues to win market share with proven best-in-class technology."
ABI Research forecasts the total available femtocell market in 2010 will reach 2.3 million units, rising to 40 million units in 2014. In 2009 six major network operators have launched femtocell services that cover the USA, Europe and Asia.
Having been the first to market with a femtocell solution in 2005, picoChip is clearly the leading technology supplier for carrier's HSPA rollouts, with seventeen customers using the field-proven picoXcell™ product. The company today also announced its strategy for an end-to-end femtocell reference solution that will lower barriers to entry, minimize cost and accelerate time-to-market for femtocells.
picoChip's strong financial position, fast ramping revenues and proven technology leadership have won it the respect of customers and the financial community. In the last year picoChip was a top ranked company in Deloitte's prestigious FAST 50, a widely acknowledged bellweather for the industry; and has been named one of the 'Top Ten Private Companies' to watch by the Financial Times. The additional endorsement of this investment allows the company to consolidate its leadership in next-generation wireless and assist in the next phase in the company's growth.
picoChip CEO Nigel Toon will be speaking at the Barclays Capital 2009 Technology Private Company Conference in San Francisco on December 7th.
picoChip is bucking the trend with this latest investment that comes at a time when venture investors are extremely cautious. In its August 2009 State of the Semiconductor Industry report*, the Global Semiconductor Association (GSA) highlighted venture capital funding at a historic low. The report quotes figures from J.P. Morgan, presented to the GSA: 'In the first half of 2009, funding in the semiconductor industry…totaled $569 million, compared to $1.1 billion for the same period a year before – a 48% decline in investments.' Similarly, Thomson Reuters reported that the first three quarters of 2009 marked the weakest nine month period for new venture capital investments in 15 years.
Posted by Roy Kaller at 10:39 AM No comments:
Labels: picoChip
Stretch Inc. Secures $10M in Mezzanine Funding Round
SUNNYVALE, CA--(Marketwire - November 11, 2009) - Stretch Inc., the pioneer and leader in software configurable processors, today announced it has received $10 million in mezzanine funding, co-led by existing investors Worldview Technology Partners, Oak Investment Partners, and Menlo Ventures.
"This last round of funding provides Stretch the financial security to scale our operations and attain profitability," said Craig Lytle, president and CEO of Stretch. "Where we have seen many startups fail in this difficult economy, Stretch's success is a testament to our ability to provide increased performance at a reduced cost for our customers."
Stretch has been successful in securing design wins with major video surveillance OEMs and ODMs across the world, and those customers are now in production, driving strong revenue growth. A partial list of customers includes Skyvision, EverFocus, Lanner, Advantech, Euresys, Matrox, Provideo, and UDP Technologies.
"2009 has been a watershed year for Stretch," commented Bob Beachler, Stretch's vice president of marketing, operations, and systems design. "Our third quarter was excellent, with revenue growing four times over second quarter, and we entered the fourth quarter with a healthy backlog to support a 3x revenue growth over the third quarter."
Stretch intends to use this additional funding to support increased manufacturing capacity and tape-out of its third generation of devices. With more than sixty employees, and offices worldwide, Stretch has received twenty patent awards and more patents pending.
About Worldview Technology Partners
Worldview Technology Partners is a leading venture capital firm focused on investing in and building leading U.S. technology companies. Worldview's comprehensive, industry-leading business development services help its portfolio companies succeed in U.S. and international markets. With a 12-year track record of successful technology investing and close to $1.4 billion under management, the Worldview team -- now on its fourth fund -- has both the experience and the resources to invest in a broad range of information technology markets, including semiconductors, enterprise infrastructure, and software.
About Oak Investment Partners
Oak Investment Partners is a growth-oriented private equity firm with a total of $8.4 billion in committed capital. Investments are primarily focused on growth opportunities in clean energy, communications, information technology, internet new media, financial services information technology, healthcare services and consumer retail. Over a 30-year history, Oak has achieved a strong track record as a stage-independent investor funding more than 481 companies at key points in their lifecycles.
About Menlo Ventures
Menlo Ventures provides long-term capital and management support to early-stage and emerging-growth companies. Menlo is one of Silicon Valley's oldest venture capital partnerships, and has organized and managed ten venture funds since their inception in 1976. With over $4 billion under management, and a team with over 200 years of collective experience in technology, marketing, sales and general management, they have the resources to support the most ambitious of projects.
About Stretch
Stretch Inc. is delivering a family of software configurable processors, the first to embed programmable logic within the processor. Using familiar C/C++ programming tools, system developers automatically configure Stretch's off-the-shelf processors to achieve extraordinary performance, easy and rapid development, significant cost savings, and flexibility to address diverse markets and changing application needs. Stretch devices are used in video processing, machine vision, and wireless applications worldwide. For more information, visit www.stretchinc.com.
Labels: Stretch
SandForce Closes $21 Million Series C Funding
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SandForce™ Inc., the pioneer of SSD (Solid State Drive) Processors that enable commodity NAND Flash deployment in enterprise and client computing applications, today announced that it has closed $21 million in Series C funding. Led by new investor TransLink Capital, the round also included new investors UMC Capital, LSI Corporation, Red Maple Ventures, Darwin Ventures, and A-Data Technology as well as all of the existing SandForce investors –DCM, Storm Ventures, and Tier-1 storage OEMs.
"We have made rapid progress into the marketplace since our launch just six months ago, and we are now shipping silicon to top-tier SSD OEM customers," said Alex Naqvi, president and CEO of SandForce. "This new funding will help us through our expansion phase as well as accelerate our new products development that will help us maintain our market leadership."
The patent-pending SandForce DuraClass™ technology is a set of flash memory management features that enable MLC-based SSDs that deliver world-class reliability, performance, and power efficiency. Current SandForce SSD Processor products include the SF-1500 for Enterprise applications and the SF-1200 for Client applications.
"SandForce has a breakthrough product that has enabled it to rapidly secure top-tier OEM customers in the enterprise and client computing markets for SSDs," said Jackie Yang, managing director of TransLink Capital and new member of the SandForce Board of Directors. "We believe that the SandForce DuraClass technology will open the door to high-volume use of SSDs in business computing, and we are very bullish about the company's future."
"SandForce is making it practical to use low-cost multi-level cell flash memory in enterprise-class devices," said Ross Katchman, head of corporate development at LSI. "As a leading provider of storage and networking technologies, we believe that flash has an important role to play in the enterprise and that SandForce is well positioned to further the deployment of flash-based solutions."
About SandForce
SandForce is transforming data storage by pioneering the use of commodity flash memory in enterprise and client computing applications with its innovative SSD (Solid State Drive) Processors. By delivering unprecedented reliability, performance, and energy efficiency, SSDs based on patent-pending SandForce DuraClass technology unleash the full potential for mass-market adoption of SSDs using NAND flash memory. Founded in 2006, SandForce is funded by leading venture capital investors and first tier storage companies. For more information, visit SandForce at www.sandforce.com.
The SandForce logo is a registered trademark, and SandForce, DuraClass, DuraWrite, and RAISE are trademarks of SandForce, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Labels: Sandforce
GigOptix, Inc. Announces Acquisition of ChipX
PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GigOptix, Inc. (OTCBB: GGOX), a leading high speed analog semiconductor manufacturer specializing in electronic engines for the optically connected digital world, today announced that the company has signed a definitive agreement, and completed the acquisition of ChipX, Incorporated, a privately-held fabless supplier of analog and mixed signal custom Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) on November 9, 2009.
It is anticipated that on a consolidated pro-forma, non-GAAP basis, the company, with locations in the U.S., Switzerland and Israel, will have had combined revenues for the first nine months of 2009 of more than $25M. GigOptix and its subsidiaries will also have a work force of approximately 95 employees, down from 115 pre-merger, of which around 40% are in research and development, and approximately 15% are in sales and marketing. As demonstrated in its previous three acquisitions, the company believes it will achieve significant financial efficiencies after consolidation. Prior to the acquisition, GigOptix employees delivered approximately $230K annual revenue per employee, which the company plans to improve to over $300K annual revenue per employee in 2010.
With the acquisition, GigOptix brings high volume silicon design expertise into the company to complement its design excellence in the more specialist semiconductor technologies of III-V, Silicon germanium and of course its unique expertise in Electro-Optic (EO) polymer technology. This will support its strategic move into higher levels of integration of analog and mixed signal system-on-chip products, such as Clock Data Recovery (CDR) and Serializer/De-Serializers (SERDES). Similar to the acquisition of Helix Semiconductors in January 2008, the acquisition supports GigOptix's plan to efficiently expand its product portfolio into high volume optically connected markets such as consumer electronics, data centers, high performance computing as well as significantly reducing the time and cost of developing new products, customer relationships and vertical markets. The transaction also delivers increased scale with an existing revenue stream from complementary product sales.
The terms of the deal provide for the ChipX investors to receive approximately 3.5 million common shares, representing approximately 26% of the fully diluted share count of GigOptix. As well as the operational benefits, the acquisition is anticipated to have the significant effect of broadening the ownership of the GigOptix common stock with the addition of new strategic and institutional investors. In parallel with closing the acquisition, the company has entered into a new commercial banking relationship with Bridge Bank, N.A. (NASDAQ: BBNK), a full-service professional business bank based in San Jose, California, which will include a $4 million asset-based line of credit.
Dr. Avi Katz will continue as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board. The current GigOptix Management Team will continue to lead the combined company, and the new ChipX (CX) Product Line will be jointly managed, ad-interim, by Ophir Nadir, Vice President Engineering of CX Product Line, and Elie Massabki, Vice President Sales & Marketing of CX Product Line. Both Mr. Nadir and Mr. Massabki were formerly executive members of ChipX. The transaction was approved by the board of directors of both companies and became effective on November 9, 2009.
Labels: ChipX, GigOptix
Chip design firm Stream Processors shuts down after plowing through $26M
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ON Semiconductor Acquires PulseCore Semiconductor
ON Semiconductor (Nasdaq: ONNN) today announced the acquisition of PulseCore Semiconductor in an all cash transaction for initial consideration of approximately $17 million. PulseCore is now a wholly owned subsidiary of ON Semiconductor.
"The acquisition of PulseCore expands ON Semiconductor's high gross margin clock and circuit protection offerings for the consumer, wireless and computing end-market customers," said Keith Jackson, ON Semiconductor president and CEO. "PulseCore's capabilities in standard and custom high-speed and low power analog and mixed signal solutions for electromagnetic interference (EMI) reduction also enhance ON Semiconductor's overall EMI filtering and circuit protection portfolios. In addition, PulseCore's strong design capabilities and history in India represents ON Semiconductor's first foray into design activity in that country."
This acquisition provides current and prospective customers of PulseCore products access to ON Semiconductor's world-class global manufacturing, sales, and support operations.
PulseCore's multiple generations of EMI reduction technology — including its standard and custom high-speed and low-power analog and mixed-signal silicon solutions — address the growing problem of EMI compliance issues within high-volume consumer applications. PulseCore's proprietary spread-spectrum technology has been proven in a range of applications from top-tier consumer electronics OEM's.
The majority of customers' daily business interactions with PulseCore Semiconductor, including sales operations, will remain unchanged at this time. In addition, substantially all PulseCore employees will join the ON Semiconductor team.
Labels: ON Semiconductor, PulseCore
EETimes.com - CIA expands investments in semis
New Venture Partners Lead $8M Investment in Intelleflex
Santa Clara, CA, October 28, 2009 -- Intelleflex Corporation, the leader in Extended Capability RFID, today announced that it has received $8M in funding in the initial close of an investment round led by New Venture Partners. Earlier round investors Arcapita Ventures, Morgenthaler Ventures and The Woodside Fund also participated.
"We believe that Intelleflex is ideally positioned for compelling success" said Ketan Patel of New Venture Partners, who will be joining the company's Board. "The Extended Capability RFID category they've pioneered, with its rich feature set, robust performance, platform flexibility and excellent value has created leadership opportunities in attractive segments including cold supply chain, reusable transport item management, personnel tracking and more."
Intelleflex President and CEO Peter Mehring added, "We're delighted to secure this financing, and that New Venture Partners will be joining the team. We'll use proceeds toward completion and launch of our next generation product set, scheduled for introduction early next year, and to fund ongoing operations and expansion beyond."
Labels: Intelleflex
Intelleflex Adds Development Team and IP, Spun Out from Maxim Integrated Products
Santa Clara, CA, October 28, 2009 -- Intelleflex, the leader in Extended Capability RFID, today announced that they have reached a definitive agreement with Maxim Integrated Products (NASDAQ: MXIM) that will result in the transfer of a Maxim engineering team, a body of design works and related IP to Intelleflex in return for Maxim receiving an equity position in Intelleflex. In addition, Intelleflex and Maxim will partner on certain go-to-market activities in the future.
Intelleflex President and CEO Peter Mehring commented, "This transaction combines the leaders in Class 3 RFID. The added development capacity and complementary design ideas will allow us to accelerate the product road map and build a leading position in the applications and markets for Class 3 RFID technology."
Maxim Division Vice President Chris Neil commented, "The combination of these complementary teams creates a clear leader in this emerging Class 3 RFID technology. The Maxim team is leading the Class 3 world-wide standards definition and development, and the Intelleflex team is the leader in Extended Capability RFID product development. "
"We saw this spin-out combination as a natural fit that further strengthens Intelleflex's position," added Ketan Patel of New Venture Partners, who recently led a $8M investment round in Intelleflex. "The Maxim team was doing great work on a parallel path with Intelleflex. By joining forces, they'll be able to move further, faster toward an impressive set of new extended capability RFID products for major market impact in 2010 and beyond." New Venture Partners LLC, is a global venture capital firm dedicated to corporate technology spinouts, with over $700 million under management..
In total, seven engineers from Maxim will be joining the team at Intelleflex, and will be based in Dallas, TX and at Intelleflex's headquarters in Santa Clara, CA.
Labels: Intelleflex, Maxim
Canesta Raises $16 Million
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The pioneer and leading provider of mass-market 3-D image sensors, Canesta, Inc. today announced it has raised $16 million in additional capitalization. Joining returning investors Carlyle Growth Partners, Hotung Venture Group, and Venrock are two new strategic investors – Quanta Computer Inc. (2382.TW), the world's largest manufacturer of notebook computers, and SMSC (NASDAQ:SMSC), a leading provider of smart mixed-signal connectivity solutions.
Canesta has invented a family of tiny CMOS 3-D "camera" chips that can provide a real-time, 3-D "depth map" of the surrounding area to PCs, consumer electronics devices such as televisions, videogames, or smartphones. The technology enables revolutionary 3-D user experiences that dramatically improve device functionality and convenience, and are just plain fun to use. The strategic investments by PC maker Quanta and chipmaker SMSC, in particular, signal an increasing interest worldwide in applying true 3-D human-interface device (HID) capabilities to personal computer applications.
"The emergence of 3-D 'natural' interfaces in PCs – such as 'touchless' gesture controls – as well as other immersive applications, has been inevitable," commented Jim Spare president and CEO of Canesta. "While significant advances in computer processing and graphics continue to be made, consumers are proving increasingly indifferent to these as product differentiators. As a consequence, we are seeing an immense shift in focus by OEMs to radical innovation and improvement in the user experience, as a way of gaining competitive advantage."
Moreover, Spare explained, current breakaway products in the mobile space that utilize multi-touch, and market-changing products in gaming that incorporate accelerometers for positional inputs, provide a sneak preview of what will be possible with Canesta-based 3-D natural interfaces. "We are on the verge of a decade of innovation in human interfaces," predicted Spare.
Earlier this year, Hitachi and Canesta demonstrated a television that enables consumers to navigate an array of television-based services using a visual 3-D interface and natural "gesture-based" controls.
Moreover, gesture-controlled PC interfaces have been featured for several years in several popular television series such as CSI: Miami – where characters sift through page after page of forensic data simply with the wave of a hand. Because of such influences, Spare says that the public is "suitably primed" for fully-immersive user experiences that go "beyond multi-touch" and do not require the user to hold any controller in his or her hand.
Spare also sees this investment in larger terms: "The implied endorsement and strong interest in 3-D imaging technology by the world's largest personal computer ODM [original device manufacturer] will encourage other players to adopt this game-changing technology," said Spare. "And as that happens, our standard CMOS approach will enable us to constantly drive down cost and improve performance. 3-D CMOS sensors will become as ubiquitous on PCs, cell phones, and other consumer electronics as CMOS 2-D color camera chips are on notebooks and cell phones today."
Taiwan's Quanta Computer shares this vision. "We are excited to become a key investor in Canesta," said Cherng Chao, senior vice president of Quanta. "A natural interface on a PC is as important a breakthrough as was the mouse, and we expect a similar paradigm shift to eventually take hold. Canesta literally invented the field of mass market, 3-D electronic perception, and we have great expectations of what we can accomplish together."
Quanta Computer is the underlying manufacturer for many name-brand PCs and notebook computers, as well as a broad-based supplier of sub-assemblies. Quanta's consolidated sales in 2008, at today's rates, were approximately US$25 billion. The company plans to introduce Canesta's unique capabilities into their broad market.
The "Other Side" of 3-D
Canesta holds over 40 granted patents for a broad range of breakthroughs in its electronic perception technology. These include innovations in silicon implementation, optics, key applications such as hands-free gesture control, and many others.
While most of the popular conception of 3-D technology has been on the "output" side, such as representing 3-dimensional objects in two dimensions (e.g., for the exploding 3-D feature-film presentation market, such as the movie Up; 3-D games; or industrial applications such as computer aided design of vehicles or aircraft), Canesta has focused on "the other side of 3-D", that is, the "input" side.
Canesta's technology is designed to make it possible for everyday devices to see and react to the world around them. It achieves this by being able to accurately, and in real time, measure the distance to thousands of features in the "frame" in view of the sensor, and to supply this data, at over 60 frames-per-second, to the device – PC, television, cell phone, videogame – in which it is embedded.
It is the only available technology that achieves 3-D imaging with a single, mass market CMOS sensor, in all lighting conditions from darkness to bright sunlight, and irrespective of the features in the scene or background.
Co-investor SMSC, a leader in "smart" mixed-signal connectivity applications and chips, sees Canesta's 3-D sensor chips as an important, new IC application.
"We focus on bringing a broad array of capabilities to the PC ecosystem," said Christine King, CEO and president of SMSC. "We believe that devices that can perceive the world around them in 3-D terms will become life-changing and ubiquitous, and are a key and basic part of that ecosystem. This is a new class of chip, and we are delighted to participate with Canesta on this technology evolution."
Canesta plans to use the new funds for business expansion and working capital in order to meet the needs of its rapidly growing consumer product and personal computer customer-base.
About Canesta
Canesta is the inventor of revolutionary, low-cost electronic perception technology that is the foundation for the "other side of 3-D" – true 3-D perception as input to everyday devices, rather than the widely-understood 3-D representational technologies as output.
Canesta's 3-D input technology, based upon tiny, CMOS 3-D imaging chips or "sensors", enables fine-grained, 3-dimensional depth-perception in virtually any kind of consumer device such as PCs, TVs, game consoles, and mobile phones, as well as automotive, industrial, and other products. Such products can then react on sight to the actions or motions of individuals and objects in their field of view, gaining levels of functionality and ease of use that were simply not possible in an era when such devices were blind.
Numerous applications are under active development by Canesta's OEM customers and partners, including consumer electronics, PC, TV, building automation, security, robotics, automotive, and others. Such customers and partners include Hitachi, Honda, Optex, Optronic, Quanta, SMSC, and others which have yet to be announced.
Canesta is located in Sunnyvale, CA. The company has filed in excess of fifty patents, 40 of which have been granted so far.
Labels: Canesta
Sigma Designs, Inc. to Acquire CopperGate Communications Ltd.
MILPITAS, Calif. & TEL AVIV, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sigma Designs®, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGM) ("Sigma") and CopperGate Communications Ltd. ("CopperGate") today announced that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement for Sigma to acquire CopperGate in a cash and stock transaction with an agreed value of $160 million, net of CopperGate's cash at the closing of the transaction.
CopperGate is a leading provider of silicon-based modem solutions enabling distribution of broadband digital content over all three types of wires in the home: coax, phone and power. CopperGate solutions are deployed by service providers enabling the delivery of HDTV, VoIP and fast Internet services. CopperGate is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel with operations in the U.S. and Taiwan.
The combination of Sigma and CopperGate creates a leading provider of networked home entertainment semiconductor solutions. The companies have highly complementary technology platforms that form a portfolio of end to end solutions. The transaction further strengthens Sigma's position and expands its footprint with key customers, in addition to enabling cross selling opportunities.
The combination of Sigma and CopperGate is also expected to yield several potential synergies including synergies from leveraging manufacturing know-how and combined wafer sourcing, further SoC integration and combined research and development.
The estimated amount of cash to be paid by Sigma on the closing date is approximately $92 million, plus the amount of cash and cash equivalents estimated to be held by CopperGate at the closing, net of CopperGate transaction expenses and debt outstanding at the closing. In addition, Sigma will issue shares of its common stock to CopperGate shareholders estimated at the time of signing to equal approximately 4.0 million shares.
Sigma has also agreed to pay up to an aggregate of $5.0 million in cash to specified CopperGate employees; provided that the eligible employee remains employed by Sigma and certain milestones are achieved. Sigma will also assume unvested stock options held by CopperGate employees that will become exercisable for approximately 0.5 million Sigma shares when vested in accordance with their existing vesting schedules.
The definitive agreement and the acquisition have been approved by the board of directors of each company. The closing of the transaction remains subject to closing conditions, including the approval of the shareholders of CopperGate and Israeli securities law matters. The holders of over 95% of the outstanding capital stock of CopperGate have executed the definitive agreement. Certain significant shareholders have also agreed to vote their shares in favor of the transaction. The transaction is expected to close in 45 to 60 days. UBS Securities LLC is acting as Sigma's exclusive financial advisor.
Labels: CopperGate, Sigma Designs
Fresco Microchip Announces Closing of $10 Million in Financing
TORONTO--(Marketwire - October 8, 2009) - Fresco Microchip Inc., a developer of leading edge RF, mixed-signal and digital signal processing integrated circuits (ICs), today announced that it closed a financing round totaling $10 million. Celtic House Venture Partners and Ventures West led the financing round. Fresco will expand its commercial activities and bring new products to market with the funding.
Fresco's industry-leading worldwide demodulators and IF processors enable television tuner can manufacturers to build low cost, ultra-thin products with improved picture quality. Six of the top nine tuner can manufacturers are actively promoting or producing products using Fresco's components. Television, DVD-R, PVR, and set-top box manufacturers have rapidly adopted Fresco's solutions for analog and hybrid markets around the world.
"Fresco's success is proof that the lowest cost appropriate solution always wins in the consumer electronics industry," said Lance Greggain, CEO, president, and co-founder of Fresco Microchip. "We are pleased with the confidence and commitment to Fresco demonstrated by this latest investment from Canada's leading venture capital firms."
"We are excited by the strong customer pull for Fresco's products and the expansion of the company's product portfolio to address new opportunities," said Brian Antonen, partner of Celtic House. "Fresco's success confirms our long-term investment strategy of building a cluster of world-leading companies focused on consumer video. We are delighted to fund the company as they embark on the next phase of growth."
"Fresco Microchip sets a new benchmark for successful venture-backed companies," said Ted Anderson, managing general partner of Ventures West. "Fresco's strong value proposition in a well-established, multibillion dollar high growth market aligns closely with our investment focus on winning companies with proven track records for focused execution and broad customer traction."
About Ventures West
Ventures West is a privately held venture capital investment group that invests in early stage technology companies across Canada from offices in Vancouver and Toronto. Established in the Canadian venture capital market for 40 years, Ventures West has formed eight venture capital funds totaling over $700 million, and has invested in over 200 companies. With 5 professional technology investment managers, the Ventures West team has over 100 years of technology venture investing and hands-on operating experience. For more information, visit www.ventureswest.com.
About Celtic House Venture Partners
For over 15 years, Celtic House Venture Partners has been Canada's most active investor in private information and communications technology companies. Applying a unique architectural approach to investing and capitalizing on the deep domain expertise of its partners, Celtic House has consistently provided superior financial returns to its investors. With $315 million under management, Celtic House has collaborated with management teams and repeat entrepreneurs to develop platform technology companies from the inception phase through to exit, generating over 20 initial public offerings and successful acquisitions. For more information, visit www.celtic-house.com.
About Fresco Microchip, Inc.
Fresco Microchip is a fabless semiconductor company focused on leading edge RF, mixed-signal and digital signal processing architectures for consumer markets. Founded in 2004, Fresco Microchip has established a team of technology, sales and marketing veterans in the TV semiconductor industry with strong track records, multiple design patents and long-standing customer relationships with the world's most recognizable and respected consumer electronic brands. The company is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, with design centers in Ottawa, Canada and Irvine, California. For more information visit: www.frescomicrochip.com.
Labels: Fresco
Netlist files suit against Inphi
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Inphi Corporation, a high-speed analog semiconductor company, announced today that it will vigorously defend itself in response to a nuisance lawsuit announced by Netlist, Inc. on September 23, 2009. The Netlist press release claims that Inphi's newly developed iMB ™ technology infringes on Netlist's U.S. Patent No. 7,532,537. While Inphi has not received any communication from Netlist on this matter, nor been served with a complaint, Inphi has examined the patent in question and believes there is no infringement.
"Inphi's iMB technology has been widely praised in the marketplace and is now gaining significant traction. Inphi intends to continue to develop innovative technologies in earnest and will respond accordingly to contrived efforts to obstruct our progress," said Young Sohn, president and CEO of Inphi.
Editor's note: US Patent 7,532,537 is entitled, "Memory module with a circuit providing load isolation and memory domain translation."
Recore Systems receives US$ 3 million funding
ENSCHEDE, The Netherlands, September 18, 2009 - Recore Systems, a fabless semiconductor company specialized in reconfigurable multi-core processors, received US$ 3 million funding in September 2009. The investment round was led by Point-One Innovation Fund and the East Netherlands Participation Company.
The new funds will be used to expand the sales, marketing and customer support organization. Moreover, the company will release a chip for receiving digital radio and TV. This receiver chip targets consumer electronics for European and Asian markets, such as (car) radio systems, portable media players and navigation devices. Its features include reception and playback of DMB, DAB+ and DAB broadcasts. The underlying reconfigurable technology allows the receiver to be used in every region of the world and enables adapting to new or unforeseen developments. Integrating the silicon tuner, baseband processing and media decoding in a single chip makes the solution cost competitive and easy to integrate in end user applications.
"Raising venture capital in the semiconductor industry in these challenging times is a great confirmation of the excellence of our technology and people", stated Recore Systems' CEO Paul Heysters. "During the past years, we strengthened our IP portfolio and we are now ready to enter the market with a chip of our own. We offer a future-proof digital radio/TV receiver chip that can be fine-tuned in software to the requirements of a specific region. Entering this market requires expansion of our business development team, which will also foster our IP sales. We are therefore very excited to have Point-One Innovation Fund and the East Netherlands Participation Company as part of our investor base."
Recore Systems' products enable highly efficient multi-core systems for applications such as broadcasting, multimedia, wireless (tele)communication and digital beamforming. These fully programmable systems reduce time-to-market and add flexibility through software upgrades.
ABOUT RECORE SYSTEMS
Recore Systems is a fabless semiconductor company that develops advanced digital signal processing platform chips and licenses reconfigurable semiconductor IP. Recore's technology enables ultra energy-efficient digital signal processing in products such as cell phones, digital radios/TVs and infotainment/navigation systems.
The company is specialized in reconfigurable multi-core designs that allow instant adaptation to new situations and offer a unique combination of flexibility, high performance, low power and low cost. Scalability of the technology allows use in both consumer and high-end applications.
Recore's reconfigurable technology comprises innovative processor cores, design tools for easy integration in customer solutions and ready-to-use applications. Besides reconfigurable hardware solutions, Recore provides accompanying IDE tools, software libraries and application engineering services.
ABOUT POINT-ONE INNOVATION FUND
Point-One Innovation Fund is an early stage Venture Capital Cooperation in The Netherlands with a focus on the technology domain, including semiconductors, software, consumer electronics and media, communication, mobile applications, automotive, gaming, navigation, internet and medical devices for the home. The fund emphasizes technologies that are friendly in terms of energy consumption. Point-One Innovation Fund has been set up to help create and grow high-tech start-up companies in the Netherlands.
ABOUT EAST NETHERLANDS PARTICIPATION COMPANY
The East Netherlands Participation Company invests in promising businesses. Companies that are pioneers or give the regional economy a boost. We focus on the market sectors health, technology and the food industry. But other innovative companies are also welcome, of course. The fund invests in starters, early phases, expansion, bridge financing, management follow-up, restructuring, company succession, management buy-outs and buy-ins.
Labels: Recore Systems
SMSC Announces Close of Tallika Corporation Acquisition
HAUPPAUGE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SMSC (NASDAQ: SMSC), a leading semiconductor company providing Smart Mixed-Signal Connectivity™ solutions, today announced that its acquisition of Tallika Corporation (Tallika) closed on September 8, 2009. Tallika's team of approximately 50 highly skilled engineers are located in design centers in Chennai, India and Phoenix, Arizona. This team brings to SMSC a broad set of capabilities, including SoC design and software development. Under terms of the acquisition, SMSC paid approximately $3.4 million.
Tallika is expected to play a significant role in accelerating SMSC's product roadmaps, including USB 3.0, and brings a breadth of expertise in a mix of engineering disciplines including hardware, software, systems, digital design and verification/validation.
Labels: smsc, Tallika
Black Sand Technologies announces 3G CMOS Power Amplifier and $10M 2nd round funding
AUSTIN, Texas — Sep. 8, 2009 — Black Sand Technologies, Inc., a fabless semiconductor company specializing in advanced power amplifier technology for wireless applications, today announced that it has produced the world's first 3G CMOS RF Power Amplifier (PA). Black Sand's proprietary CMOS PA architecture offers a breakthrough in combined performance, cost, battery life, and reliability for mobile devices such as mobile phones and datacards. The company also announced today that it has received US$10 million in its second round of funding. The round was led by Northbridge Venture Partners and joined by Austin Ventures, bringing the total investment in the company to US$18.2 million. Black Sand will use the funding to bring its power amplifiers into mass production and accelerate development of additional products.
Black Sand's RF PA products are targeted at mobile phones and other 3G wireless devices, such as datacards and netbooks. Mobile phones and wireless products today use power amplifiers based on Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) semiconductor technology. Replacing GaAs with CMOS silicon technology improves manufacturing yield, performance, cost, battery life, and call quality.
Over time CMOS has replaced GaAs technology in many other applications from audio chips to DVD decoders. However, CMOS does not lend itself easily to use in power amplifiers, so a revolutionary architecture was required. "By leveraging our breakthrough PA architecture, Black Sand, as the first company to deliver 3G PAs in CMOS, is ready to capitalize on the historic shift from GaAs to CMOS, and benefit from the explosion in demand for new 3G devices appearing on the market today," said John Diehl, CEO of Black Sand Technologies.
"The RF front end of mobile phones is continuing to grow in complexity and with the development of linear, 3G CMOS PA technology, enabling advances such as integrated digital control circuits, Black Sand is in a unique position to profit from this technological shift as the market moves from 2G to 3G," added Brian Modoff, Senior Wireless Equipment Analyst at Deutsche Bank.
"We were impressed to see that Black Sand delivered working samples of their new PA architecture much sooner than expected." said Basil Horangic, Partner at Northbridge Venture Partners. "This is a very competitive market and Black Sand's linear PA architecture puts them out in front. Their unique offering will provide the basis for a broad portfolio of products from 2G to 4G." Krishna Srinivasan, Partner at Austin Ventures added, "Since inception this team has executed in hitting milestones and developing new, world-class IP, and we are delighted to continue our support for the company as they enter a new phase of growth."
"Black Sand is extremely pleased with this up-round of financing that we've received. Our company is now well positioned to take these products to market by providing a new level of integrated cost and performance to our customers" concluded Diehl.
Labels: Black Sand
TriQuint Acquires TriAccess Technologies
HILLSBORO, Ore. & SANTA ROSA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc (NASDAQ: TQNT), a leading RF front-end product manufacturer and foundry services provider, announced its acquisition of TriAccess Technologies, a leading provider of Cable TV (CATV) and Fiber-to-the-Premise (FTTP) integrated circuits for the amplification of high-quality multimedia content, effective today. Previously, TriQuint served as TriAccess' foundry supplier.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. TriAccess' results are not expected to materially impact TriQuint's net income. In conjunction with this transaction, the Board of Directors has approved issuance of 170,300 stock options to ten former TriAccess employees under TriQuint's 2008 Inducement Award Program. The stock option grants are effective September 3, 2009. A majority of TriQuint's independent directors approved the grant of the stock options in accordance with NASDAQ Listing Standard 5635(c)(4). The stock options granted as part of the award program have a 10-year life, vest 25% twelve months from the date of grant, with the remaining 75% of the option vesting in equal quarterly installments of 6.25% over the next twelve quarters. They have an exercise price of $7.54, which is the closing price of TriQuint's common stock on September 3, 2009. The options expire on September 3, 2019.
Labels: TriAccess, TriQuint
EETimes.com - RF startup Sequoia Communications shuts down
Bosch to acquire Akustica, Inc.
Robert Bosch North America agreed today to acquire Akustica, Inc., an innovator in the application of CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) MEMS (micro electro-mechanical systems) technology in the consumer electronics market. Terms of the agreement will not be disclosed.
Akustica, which was founded in 2001, is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company develops and sells a complete portfolio of digital and analog micro electromechanical microphones featuring CMOS MEMS technology. This innovative technology allows the integration of transducer elements and associated integrated circuits on a single Silicon chip. Bosch is the world leader in MEMS sensors and, with this acquisition, further strengthens its position in this market.
"The strategic acquisition of Akustica with their outstanding application of sophisticated MEMS technology complements our growing semiconductor business and ideally complements our ongoing MEMS activities" said Dr. Stefan Kampmann, executive vice president, Bosch Automotive Electronics. "We look forward to working together with the Akustica team to continue to develop this important business area."
To date Akustica, which developed and sold the world's first digital MEMS microphone, has sold over 5 million microphones in the global market. All of the company's 36 associates will be employed by Bosch.
Labels: Akustica
Key ASIC Acquires Gateway Silicon, Inc
SANTA CLARA, Calif. & KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Key ASIC Berhad announces that it has signed a definitive agreement with the shareholders of Gateway Silicon, Inc. (GSI) to acquire up to 100% of the company in a cash transaction. GSI is a subsidiary of Macronix International, Co. Ltd. a semiconductor IDM headquartered in Taiwan. Macronix ended calendar year 2008 with revenues of NT$23.28B or approximately $710M.
Gateway Silicon, Inc. is a professional IC design service company founded in August 2006 in Hsin Chu Science Park, Taiwan. GSI focuses in research and development of analog and digital IP for consumer ICs. GSI has developed a significant portfolio of analog and memory IP focused in the graphics and video applications. GSI provides SOC implementation and IC turnkey design services. Through GSI's proprietary platform solutions, competitive cost structure, and integrated turnkey services, customers benefit from high quality IC products developed and delivered on schedule to meet the customer's time-to-market requirements. GSI has offices in Japan and Taiwan.
Labels: Gateway, Key ASIC
Analogix Semiconductor Closes $10 Million Series B-3 Funding
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Analogix Semiconductor, Inc., a world leader in high performance digital multimedia interface solutions, today announced that it has closed a $10 million Series B-3 venture capital funding round. The round was led by China-focused venture capital group Keytone Ventures. Major existing Analogix Semiconductor investors, including Woodside Fund, DCM, Globespan Capital Partners, and JAIC, participated.
With offices in Santa Clara, Shenzen, Beijing, Taipei, and Tokyo, Analogix Semiconductor has made a name for itself in the development of semiconductors for the digital multimedia market. "Ever since Analogix Semiconductor was founded in 2002, this company has developed innovative products in the market for high-performance semiconductors for digital multimedia," says Dr. Kewei Yang, Chairman and CEO of Analogix Semiconductor. Analogix Semiconductor was the first company to deliver DisplayPort technology and the first to market HDMI receivers and transmitters with a reach of 25 meters over low-cost cable. It was also the first company to introduce a discrete DisplayPort 1.1a transmitter certified by the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA).
Labels: Analogix
Abilis Acquires Two Product Lines From Freescale Semiconductor
GENEVA, August 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Abilis Systems, a Kudelski Group company, (SWX:KUD) and a pioneer RF semiconductor company, announces the acquisition of Freescale Semiconductor CMOS Modulators and Silicon Tuner product lines. The acquisition of these assets will allow Abilis to expand its broad portfolio of leading, silicon- based digital TV (DTV) and tuner solutions and better address the needs of the growing digital TV market, and in particular of Digital Terrestrial (DTT) and cable platforms. It will enable Abilis to support the growth of Pay-TV operators by combining its innovative cutting-edge technology with well- established and proven technology and knowledge from one of the most relevant global chip manufacturers. Furthermore, this extension of product portfolio and related skills and competences will further enhance its expertise in this area with the integration within Abilis of the dedicated team from Freescale.
Abilis will begin selling these products under the Abilis brand effective October 1, 2009. Key members of the Freescale Digital Home Operations (DHO) team who support these products have transitioned to the Abilis Chandler, Arizona-based product team. Freescale and Abilis Systems are jointly committed to ensure a smooth and seamless transition for the current client base. Abilis is securing a high quality of service and the sustainability and timeliness of product delivery.
The acquired portfolio of innovative, high-performance CMOS modulators and silicon tuners are targeting the rapidly expanding DTV market, where Freescale is currently the world-leader supplier of modulators. These products include a family of CMOS modulator chips as well as high performance silicon tuners that are increasingly being integrated in favor of bulky, can-type tuners in DTV applications. The performance, low cost and versatility of these devices has given Freescale broad market acceptance in the HDTV market.
Labels: Abilis, Freescale
SMSC invests in Symwave
HAUPPAUGE, NY and LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA., – August 6, 2009 - SMSC (NASDAQ: SMSC), a leading semiconductor provider of Smart Mixed-Signal Connectivity™ solutions, and Symwave, Inc., a leading silicon supplier of system solutions for SuperSpeed USB devices, announced today a strategic relationship with the objective to accelerate delivery of superior end-to-end USB 3.0 solutions into high volume mobile, consumer and computing segments. Under the agreement, SMSC has made an initial cash investment of $4 million in Symwave, and SMSC's President and Chief Executive Officer, Christine King, will join Symwave's Board of Directors. As part of the relationship, SMSC has committed to an additional $1.3 million investment if required by Symwave and has obtained the right to acquire Symwave under certain conditions.
Labels: smsc, Symwave
Intersil to acquire Quellan
MILPITAS, CA--(Marketwire - August 4, 2009) - Intersil Corporation (NASDAQ: ISIL), a world leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance analog and mixed signal semiconductors, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Quellan, Inc., a privately held leader in the design of high performance analog signal processing integrated circuits (ICs). Quellan's innovative Q:ACTIVE® technology delivers unmatched signal integrity for improved system throughput and density with dramatically reduced power consumption.
Quellan, a Santa Clara, California company founded in 2000, utilizes a proprietary Collaborative Signal Processing (CSP) architecture to apply adaptive noise cancellation and equalization within the analog domain. This unique approach enables Quellan's ICs to address signal loss, dispersion, skew and noise in high-speed signal processing applications. Quellan's Q:ACTIVE technology will provide improved performance, smaller footprint and lower power solutions for communications and networking infrastructure, high-performance computing, storage and consumer electronics applications.
The boards of directors of both companies have unanimously approved the merger. Intersil expects the acquisition will have an immaterial impact on revenue or earnings for the third quarter 2009 results.
Labels: Intersil, Quellan
Novafora Shuts Down, Selling Transmeta IP
Power-One, Inc. and Powervation, Ltd Announce Patent License
CAMARILLO, Calif. & LIMERICK, Ireland & PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Power-One, Inc. (Nasdaq: PWER), a leading provider of power conversion and power management solutions, and Powervation, Ltd., a provider of Auto-Control™ digital power IC solutions, today announced that they have entered into a non-exclusive Field of Use license for Powervation under Power-One's digital power technology patents. The license does not extend to stand-alone power supplies using Powervation products.
"We are pleased that Powervation has licensed our digital power technology for use in its power smart devices," said Richard Thompson, President and CEO of Power-One. "This agreement furthers Power-One's initiative to work with technology leaders to offer creative power solutions worldwide."
"We believe that our differentiated digital energy control semiconductor and system solutions provide substantial benefits to our customers for managing the power delivery and energy efficiency of information processing systems. Our collaboration with Power-One on the intellectual property for systems level communication and digital power control means that our customers can easily move to the next level of power architecture implementation and maximize the compelling benefits of Powervation's technologies and solutions," said Antoin Russell, CEO of Powervation.
Labels: Powervation
Alien Technology® Achieves Favorable Outcome in Legal Proceedings Against Avery Dennison
MORGAN HILL, CA--(Marketwire - July 22, 2009) - Alien Technology is pleased to announce positive outcomes related to patent infringement claims filed by Avery Dennison. In 2008, Avery Dennison filed suit against Alien® in federal district court in Ohio asserting that Alien's manufacturing and testing processes infringe Avery Dennison's patents. Following a reexamination request, the US Patent and Trademark Office rejected as invalid all claims of Avery Dennison's asserted manufacturing patents. In March 2009, a federal district court judge denied Avery Dennison's request for preliminary injunction against Alien. In June 2009, Avery Dennison's asserted testing patents were dismissed. The latest in a series of outcomes favorable to Alien occurred this week when the judge granted Alien's motion to stay the litigation involving Avery Dennison's asserted and now invalid manufacturing patents. Alien Technology respects intellectual property rights, but it is also prepared to defend itself against actions that lack merit. This latest outcome puts to rest any fear, uncertainty and doubt which may have been instilled in the marketplace.
Alien Technology's proprietary and patented Fluidic Self Assembly (FSA®) and inlay Strap-attach production techniques have long been a hallmark of Alien Technology. These manufacturing processes and techniques are superb for stable, high volume inlay production and will be instrumental when the RFID market reaches higher volumes.
Editor's note: US Patents involved: 6,951,596; 7,292,148; 7,307,527
Labels: Alien Technology
David Orton Appointed Chief Executive Officer of Aptina
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aptina's Board of Directors announced today the appointment of David Orton to Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Aptina as of August 5, 2009. David Orton succeeds Nicholas Brathwaite who has been the CEO since April 2008 and who will assume the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors for Aptina. Aptina is now independent and privately held following the sale by Micron Technology, Inc. of a majority interest to Riverwood Capital and TPG Capital on July 10, 2009. Micron has retained a 35% minority interest in Aptina.
Orton, 53, most recently served as CEO at venture-backed start up, DSM Solutions. Prior to that, Orton was Executive Vice President of Visual and Media Businesses for AMD following the company's acquisition of ATI Technologies, a global fabless semiconductor company. Prior to this acquisition, Orton served as the president and chief executive officer of ATI from 2000 to 2006. Under Orton's leadership, ATI went from a single product line to four major product lines, growing the company's revenue from $1B in 2000 to $2.4B in 2005. Prior to joining ATI, Orton was President and Chief Executive Officer at the high-performance 3-D graphics company, ArtX, Inc., which was acquired by ATI in 2000. Prior to joining ArtX, Orton served in a number of senior management roles at SGI, including Senior Vice President & General Manager of Visual Systems Group and prior to that as Vice President and General Manager of the Advanced Graphics Division. His experience also includes graphics and semiconductor work for General Electric and Bell Laboratories. Orton holds several patents in graphics and computer architecture. Orton earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics and economics at Wake Forest University, and a Master of Science degree in electrical engineering from Duke University.
Labels: Aptina
AuthenTec Acquires Assets of Atrua Technologies
MELBOURNE, Fla., July 14, 2009 – AuthenTec (NASDAQ: AUTH), the world's leading provider of smart fingerprint sensors and solutions, announced today that it has completed a transaction to acquire the assets of fingerprint sensor maker Atrua Technologies for approximately $4.9 million in cash. The asset purchase further extends AuthenTec's industry leading position in the wireless market and adds to its expansive intellectual property (IP) portfolio. Papers have also been filed with the Federal District Court for the Northern District of California to effect the dismissal of all claims pending in AuthenTec's patent infringement suit against Atrua as well as Atrua's counterclaims.
Through this transaction, AuthenTec acquired certain Atrua assets including its "Fingerprint Touch Control" and "Micro Pressure Control" products, as well as technologies and IP associated with the Atrua fingerprint sensor hardware and software. The acquired IP includes more than 30 issued and pending U.S. patents, focused primarily on fingerprint sensor and intelligent touch controls for mobile devices, bringing AuthenTec's total patent portfolio to more than 100 issued and pending U.S. patents.
Labels: Atrua
AMIMON Secures $10 Million for Round D
SANTA CLARA, CA--(Marketwire - July 14, 2009) - AMIMON Inc., the market leader in wireless HD semiconductor solutions, today announced that it has raised $10 million in its latest round of funding. Led by Stata Venture Partners, this series D round of financing included all significant investors from prior rounds, in particular: Argonaut Private Equity, Cedar Fund, Evergreen Venture Partners, Walden Israel and Motorola through their strategic venture capital, Motorola Ventures.
AMIMON's chipsets have been shipping in volume embedded in wireless HDTVs and video accessories by leading TV OEMs selling AMIMON-based products in the US, Europe and Japan. AMIMON's wireless technology has also enabled breakthrough products in the medical imaging and professional video markets. Applying unique smart algorithms originating from Information Theory foundations: AMIMON's strong technical team has already developed and successfully launched six different chips with its prior funding. Engineering strengths coupled with a high-level of execution allowed for effective and efficient use of capital.
Earlier this year AMIMON announced its second generation chipset designed for the WHDI™ (Wireless Home Digital Interface™) standard. It's the world's only chipset capable of wirelessly delivering full uncompressed 1080p/60Hz HD content throughout the entire home. WHDI chipsets will be integrated into wireless HDTV products and other WHDI devices from leading CE manufacturers.
"We are experiencing strong acceptance of our newly introduced 1080p/60Hz chipset; the additional funding will allow Amimon to seize this opportunity to solidify our leadership position," said Dr. Yoav Nissan-Cohen, chairman and CEO of AMIMON. "We will use this round of funding to enhance production and expand our worldwide operations to meet growing global demand for our technology in the consumer electronics market as well as the medical and professional video markets."
"We are impressed with Amimon's efficient use of capital to develop products that work in the real world," said Lee Barbieri, Managing Partner of Stata Ventures. "It's clear by the industry's adoption, AMIMON offers a superior technology and this investment reaffirms our strong belief and increased confidence in AMIMON's technology."
"The investment in AMIMON reflects Motorola's continued support for the company and the WHDI standard," said Paul Moroney, Motorola Fellow, CTO Office, Motorola Home and Networks Mobility. "This investment will help accelerate mass market adoption of WHDI as the standard for wireless HD connectivity to the display."
AMIMON is a fabless semiconductor company pioneering wireless uncompressed high-definition video for universal connectivity among CE video devices. AMIMON is a founding member of the WHDI™ (Wireless Home Digital Interface) SIG formed by leading CE companies to define a new industry standard for multi-room wireless HDTV connectivity.
AMIMON is headquartered in Herzlia, Israel, with offices in Santa Clara, Calif., USA; Tokyo, Japan; and Seoul, Korea. More information is available at www.amimon.com and www.whdi.org.
Labels: Amimon
Microtune Announces Agreement to Acquire Auvitek
PLANO, Texas & SHANGHAI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul. 10, 2009-- Microtune®, Inc. (NASDAQ: TUNE) today announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held Auvitek International, Ltd. for approximately $9 million in cash and stock and with a potential earn-out if certain performance targets are met, all subject to various standard closing conditions. The acquisition is expected to close during the month of July.
Microtune, inventor of the single-chip TV tuner, is a leading supplier of radio frequency (RF) silicon and systems solutions for the cable TV, digital TV (DTV) and automotive entertainment markets. Auvitek is a supplier of advanced DTV demodulator integrated circuits (ICs) for the HDTV and TV-enabled peripherals markets with primary engineering operations based in Shanghai, China. The addition of Auvitek's complementary digital components will transform Microtune from a pure-play tuner supplier to a developer of highly integrated RF-to-bits solutions.
Upon the close of the acquisition, Auvitek will be wholly-owned by Microtune. Birch will become Vice President and General Manager of the newly-formed Microtune Digital Television Business, reporting to Executive Vice President, Barry F. Koch.
Under the terms of the agreement, Microtune will pay approximately $6.8 million in cash and one million shares of Microtune stock, with a current value of approximately $2.2 million, for the Auvitek business.
Labels: Auvitek, Microtune
SMSC Announces Agreement to Acquire Tallika Corp.
HAUPPAUGE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SMSC (NASDAQ: SMSC) today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Tallika Corporation (Tallika), a team of approximately 50 highly skilled engineers located in design centers in Chennai, India and Phoenix, Arizona. This team will bring to SMSC a broad set of capabilities, including SoC and software development. The Tallika and SMSC teams have previously worked together on various projects including transceiver development, chip design and pre-silicon verification. SMSC has agreed to pay approximately $3.4 million to purchase Tallika. The acquisition is expected to be non-dilutive and to close in August 2009.
Posted by Roy Kaller at 6:02 AM 1 comment:
Infineon to sell Wireline Communications Business to U.S. Investor
Neubiberg, Germany — July 7, 2009 — Infineon Technologies AG announces it has agreed to sell its Wireline Communications (WLC) business to an affiliate of U.S. based investor Golden Gate Capital for Euro 250 million. The contracts were signed today. This transaction means Infineon will focus in future on four segments: Automotive (ATV), Industrial & Multimarket (IMM), Chipcard & Security (CCS) and Wireless Solutions (WLS). In making this move, Infineon can concentrate its resources more closely on growth and leadership in these four market segments. The transaction will significantly improve Infineon's financial situation. Closing is expected in autumn 2009.
Besides the WLC divestiture the stronger focus, enables Infineon to expand its leading technological position in the three key sectors energy efficiency, security and communications. As the Wireline Communications segment has limited dependence on the working and production processes of the company as a whole, the carve-out will involve reasonable effort.
Christian Wolff has been appointed CEO of the new company. He has led the division for many years, and has also held leading positions in the Wireline segment for 14 years. All products, business bases and development projects will be continued. Around 800 patent groups will be transferred. Therefore the customer will be guaranteed consistency in every respect.
Employment contracts for approximately 600 WLC employees will be transferred to the new company. Furthermore, an estimated 300 employees from Infineon central functions who already work on behalf of the WLC segment today are also designated to join the new company.
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Companies we watch - Last updated 8-9-2012
In addition to monitoring public corporation press, SEC filings and IP litigation on our Filing Watch site, we also gather intelligence on private semiconductor companies.
Performed a major list clean-up on 12-22-2011.
If you would like to add a company to the list, let us know about a company closure, offer new insights or ask for additional research, please send us an e-mail.
Abound Logic - Reported closed 6/2010
Accel - Audio, Bluetooth. FM, mixed-signal SoC (Closed?)
Accent - Smart Grid solutions
ACCO - CMOS RF
Achronix - FPGAs
Active Semi - Mobile Power Management
ADD Semiconductor - Power line communications
Adesto Technologies - Memory technologies
Advico - Data communication design and IP
Aegis - Thin film technology for optical communication
Aeroflex - IPO 11/2010
AeroScout - WiFi RFID
Agile RF - Tunable passives
Air - Ceased operations 1/2010
Akros Silicon - Power-over-Ethernet
Akustica - Acquired by Bosch 8-19-2009
Alacritech - Network processors
Alereon - Wireless USB
Alien Technology - RFID
Alpha & Omega - IPO 4/2010
Altair - LTE wireless
Altierre - Digital retail pricing tags
AltoBeam - DTV Receivers
Alvand - Mixed-signal design and IP
Ambarella - Filed for IPO 6/2011
Amalfi - CMOS RF power amplifiers
Amimon - Wireless audio/video transport
Anadigm - Programmable analog processors
Analog Bits - Mixed-signal design and IP
Analogix - Wired audio/video transport
Ant - Wireless sensor network
Aptina - CMOS image sensors/SoC
Aquantia - 10G Ethernet
Arctic Silicon - Acquired by Hittite 1/2011
Arteris - Intra-chip communications IP
Arveni - Micro energy harvesting
Arxan Defense - Acquired by Microsemi 9/2010
asicNorth - Mixed-signal design
Aspex - Acquired by Ericsson 8/2012
Atrua - Acquired by AuthenTec 7/14/2009
Audience - Audio noise reduction
Aura - Mixed-signal Design Services
Auramicro - Acquired by BCD Semi. 6/2011
AuthenTec - Fingerprint sensors
AutoESL - Acquired by Xilinx 1/2011
Auvitek - Acquired by Microtune 7/31/2009
Avalon Microelectronics - Acquired by Altera 12/2010
Avnera - Wireless audio networking
Avoca - Voice interface
Axiom - Acquired by Skyworks 5/2009
Azuro - Acquired by Cadence 7/2011
Azzurro - GaN on Si foundry
Baolab - MEMS
Bay Microsystems - Network processors
Beceem - Acquired by Broadcom 11/2010
BCD Semiconductor - IPO 1/2011
BinOptics - Lasers
Bitwave - Multi-band transceivers
Black Sand - 3G CMOS RF PA
Blue Wonder - Acquired by Infineon 10/2010
BridgeCo - Acquired by SMSC 5/2011
Bridgelux - LEDs
BrightScale - Reported closed 5/2009
Brite Semiconductor - ASICs and services
BroadLight - Broadcom acquisition announced 3/21/2012
BroadLogic - Video transport over cable
C2 Microsystems - Media processors
Cactus Custom Analog Designs - Mixed-signal design
Calvatec - Acquired by Maxim 6/2011
Calxeda - Low power ARM processors
Calypto - Verification & Power design tools
CamSemi - Power management
Canesta - Acquired by Microsoft 10/2010
Cavendish Kinetics - MEMS
Ceitec - ASIC design services including RFID
Celeno - Wi-Fi home networking
Celestial - Acquired by Cavium Networks 1/2011
Celis - RFID (Closed?)
Central Semiconductor - Discrete transistors
CHiL - Acquired by International Recitifier 2/2011
ChipSensors - Acquired by Silicon Labs 10/2010
ChipWrights - Video processors
ChipX - Acquired by GigOptix 11/9/2009
Chrontel - Video processing and transport
Ciranova - Analog Design Automation
ClariPhy - Data communication
CMOSIS - CMOS Image sensors
CogniVue - Image & cognition processors
Comsys Mobile - Reportedly acquired by Intel 5/2010
Contour - Non-volatile memory (status unknown)
Coppergate - Acquired by Sigma Designs 10/2009
CoreOptics - Acquired by Cisco 7/2010
Coreriver - Microcontrollers and IP
Corsonic - 4G baseband
Cortina - Networking for Ethernet, SONET, etc.
Crest - Analog design services (aka SliceX)
Crocus - MRAM
Crystal Systems - Acquired by GT Solar 7/2010
Cswitch - Network switches (status unknown)
Custom One Design - Mixed-signal design (Status unknown)
Custom Silicon Solutions - Mixed-signal design and IP
CyOptics - InP optical components
DaTang Microeletronics - Handset products
Denali - Acquired by Cadence 5/2010
Densbits - Flash Memory
Desert Microtechnology - Mixed-signal design
Diablo Technologies - ASIC design
DiBcom - Mobile TV
Direct2silicon - Direct e-beam generation of SoCs
Discera - MEMS clock sources
Discretix - Embedded security
DisplayLink - Video transport over USB
DS2 - Acquired by Mavell 8/2010
Dune Networks - Acquired by Broadcom 12/09
Dust Networks - Acquired by Linear Technology 12/11
eASIC - FPGAs
Element CXI - Processor IP (status unknown)
Elliptic - Embedded security
Elonics - RF ICs (CMOS RF tuner)
Ember - Acquired by Silicon Labs 5/12
Energy Micro - Low power microcontrollers
Enigma - Network switches (Closed?)
Enpirion - Power Management
EnVerv - Smart Grid
eoSemi - Clock generation
EPC - GaN power devices
EqcoLogic - Digital signal equalizers
eRide - GPS
eSilicon - ASIC design and services
eSionic - Nanotechnology IP
Ethernity Networks - Network processors
Evatronix - Digital IP cores
Evident - Noncrystal semiconductors (quantum dot)
Firecomms - Optical communication
Firefly Green Technologies - LED illumination control
Forth Dimension Displays - Near-to-eye displays
Freescale - IPO 5/2011
Fresco Logic - Data communications - USB 3.0
Fresco Microchip - TV demodulator & IF
Frontier Silicon - Acquired by Toumaz 7/3/2012
Fulcrum Microsystems - Intel acquisition announced 7/19/11
Future Technology Devices - USB I/O bridges
G2 Microsystems - Wi-Fi
GainSpan - Embedded WiFi
GCT Semiconductor - Mobile TV and WiMAX
Genasic - Acquired by Maxim
Genoa - Video processors
Geo Semiconductor - Video processors
Gigle Networks - Acquired by Broadcom 12/2010
Glacier - RF synthesizers (status unknown)
Grandis - Acquired by Samsung 7/2011
GreenPeak - ZigBee
Greyrock Technology - Mixed-signal design and IP
Gtronix - Acquired by National Semiconductor 6/2010
HiSilicon - Video and networking ASICs
Horizon - Video processors (status unknown)
HVVi - RF power MOSFETs (Ceased operations 2011)
Icera - Acquired by NVIDIA 5/9/2011
ICsense - Mixed-signal design services and IP
IDENT Technology - Gesture and touch sensors
Impinj - RFID
imt - MEMS sensors and switches
INCIDE - Mixed-signal ASICs
Indilinx - Solid State Drive controllers
Ingenic - Processors for PCs, mobile electronics
Initio - Disk drive I/O (USB, SATA, etc.)
Innovasic - Legacy products & industrial control
Innovative Silicon - Memory (Closed?)
Inova - Digital video transport
Inphi - IPO 11/12/2010
Inside Secure - RFID
Integra Technologies - RF Transistors
Integrated Memory Logic - Video display
Integrated Sensing Systems - MEMS Sensors
Intelleflex - RFID
Intrinsity - Acquired by Apple 4/2010
InvenSense - MEMS sensors
InVisage - CMOS Sensor technologies
IO Semiconductor - RF
IPextreme - IP broker
IQ Analog - Mixed signal IP and design services
IsInvariant - Image sensors and amplifiers
Ittiam - Signal processing IP
iWatt - Power Management
Javelin - CMOS Power Amplifiers
Jennic - Acquired by NXP 7/2010
Kaben - Wireless IP
Kilopass - Non-volatile memory IP
Kinetic Technologies - Analog and power management
Kionix - Accelerometers
Kleer - Acquired by SMSC 2/2010
Kolorific - Video display SoCs
Kovio - Thin film printed semiconductor for RFID
Kyma - GaN & AlN Materials
Legend Silicon - Digital TV (status unknown)
Legend Design Technology - IP characterization tools
Lightwire - CMOS photonics
Lime Microsystems - Wireless transceivers
Linear Signal - Beamforming RFIC
Link-A-Meda - HDD electronics
Lontium - Design services & I/O IP
Luminescent - Computational lithography
Luminus - LEDs for illumination & projection
LucidLogix - Multi processor graphics engines
LucidPort - USB 3.0 to SATA Bridge Controller
Luxim - Solid-state plasma lighting
Luxtera - Optical transceivers
Lyric - Acquired by Analog Devices 6/2011
M/A-Com - IPO 3/16/2012
Magna Lynx - Acquired by MoSys 3/26/2010
Magnolia Broadband - Antenna diversity
Magnum - Video processors
Marseille Networks - Video processors
Maxic - Multimedia ASICs
MaxLinear - IPO 3/24/2010 NYSE:MXL
Maxscend - Mobile TV (status unknown)
Melfas - Touch sensor solutions (status unknown)
Metanoia Communications - VDSL
Microstaq - MEMS
Mimix Broadband - Acquired by M/A-COM 6/2010
Mirics - TV and radio tuners
Mixel - Mixed-signal IP
Mobileye - Automotive vision & scene interpretation
MobilePeak - Cellular baseband
Mobius - Acquired by IDT 1/2010
Modelware - Acquired by Xilinx 5/2011
Moortec - Mixed-signal IP and design services
Movea - Motion sensors
Movidius - Mobile video processors
mSilica - Majority of assets acquired by Atmel
Mstar - IPO 12/2010
MtekVision - Mobile embedded processors
Multigig - Timing and clock generation
NABsys - DNA sequencing
Nangate - Digital cell libraries
NanoAmp Solutions - Multi-band Transceivers
Nanochip - MEMS-based memory (Closed?)
Nanoradio - Acquired by Samsung 6/2012
Nanosys - Nanotechnology IP
Nanotech - Acquired by Gennum 4/2011
Nantero - Carbon nanotube ICs
Nethra - Video processors
Netronome - Network processors
New Imaging Technologies - CMOS Sensors
Newport Media - Mobile TV
Nextivity - In-building cellular processors
Nextreme - Themoelectric devices
NEXX Systems - Metal deposition systems
Nitronex - GaN RF power
Norstel - SiC materials
NuPGA - 3D FPGA
Octasic - Wireless modem baseband
Omiino - Acquired by Xilinx 3/2011
Omni-ID - RFID
OneChip Photonics - Optical transceivers
Open-Silicon - ASIC design and support
Optichron - Acquired by NetLogic 4/2011
Optomai - Acquired by M/A-COM 4/2011
Ozmo devices - Low power Wi-Fi
Parade Technologies - Video transport
Parallel Engines - IP directory and sources
Parallel Semiconductor - Consulting services
Paratek - Tunable passives
Percello - Acquired by Broadcom 11/2010
Peregrine - IPO 8/2012
PhaseLink - Clock sources
Phyworks - Acquired by Maxim 9/2010
picoChip - Acquisition by Mindspeed announced 1/5/12
Pixim - Video sensors & processors
Pixtronix - Reported acquired by Qualcomm 12/2011
Plastic Logic - Thin film displays
Plato Networks - 10G Ethernet (Status unknown)
Plurality - Multi-core processors
Powervation - Power management
Prime Sense - 3D machine vision
Prolific - Acquired by ARM 11/2011
Provigent - Acquired by Broadcom 4/2011
PulseCore - Acquired by ON Semi 11/4/2009
Pyxalis - Image sensors
Qspeed - Acquired by Power Integrations 12/2010
QualCore Logic - Mixed-signal design and IP
Qualtre - Inertial sensors
Quantance - Power management for RF
Quantenna - Wireless video transport
Quartics - Video processors
Quellan - Acquired by Intersil 2009
Quickfilter - Programmable mixed-signal filters
Quintic - Mobile FM wireless
R2 - ?
R3Logic - Design tools for 3D packaging
RadioScape - Digital radio and Mobile TV
Raydium - TFT-LCD display ICs
Rapid Bridge - Assets acquired by Qualcomm 6/2011
RDA Microelectronics - RF transceivers, PAs, switches
Recore Systems - Reconfigurable multi-core processors
RedMere - Video transport HDMI
Replisaurus - Electrochemical metalization process
RFaxis - RF front ends
RFnano - Carbon nono tubes for RF
RMI - Acquired by NetLogic 2009
Rock Semiconductor - Acquired by Intersil 12/2009
Rosum - Precision GPS (Closed?)
Runcom - WiMax
Saakhya Labs - Universal TV Demodulators
Samplify - Data converters
Sand 9 - MEMS clock source
Sandbridge - Reportedly acquired by Qualcomm 10/2010
Sandforce - Acquired by LSI 1/2012
Sankalp - Mixed-signal design services
Sarance - Acquired by Xilinx 5/2011
Schiltron - 3D Flash
Scintera - Multi-band baseband processor
SemiSouth - SiC wafers
Semprius - Micro-transfer printing fabrication
SensorDynamics - Acquired by Maxim 7/2011
Sentinel - Process modeling (PDK) services
Sequans - WiMAX
Sequence - Acquired by Apache 9/2009
Sequoia Communications - Ceased operations 8/2009
ServerEngines - Acquired by Emulex 8/2010
Shocking Technologies - ESD protection materials
Siano Mobile Silicon - Mobile TV
SiBeam - Acquired by Silicon Image 5/2011
Sidense - Non-volatile memory IP
Si-En - Acquired by ISSI 1/2011
Sierra Monolithics - Acquired by Semtech 12/09
SiGe - Acquired by Skyworks 8/2011
Silanna - Silicon on insulator
Silego - Mixed-signal and analog
SiliconBlue - Acquired by Lattice 12/2011
Silicon Clocks - Acquired by Silicon Labs 4/2010
SiliconCore - Laser and LED Drivers
SiliconGate - Analog IP (Closed?)
Silicon Hive - Acquired by Intel 2/2011
Silicon Mitus - Mixed Signal ASSPs (Status unknown)
SiliconXpress - ASIC design and support (Closed?)
Silistix - Intra-chip communications IP (Status unknown)
SiOnyx - Photo detectors
SiPort - Acquired by Intel 5/2011
SiTime - MEMS clock sources
SiTune - Mobile TV SOC's
SiWave - PHY's
SOFICS - ESD protection IP
Solaicx - Acquired by MEMC 5/2010
Solarflare - 10G Ethernet
Solido - Process variability modeling tools
Sonics - Intra-chip communications IP
Sound Design Technologies - Acquired by ON Semi 6/2010
Spatial Photonics - Micro display
SpectraLinear - Acquired by SiLabs 1/2011
Stantum - Multi-touch interface
Stream Processors (SPI) - Reported to have closed 11/2009
Stretch - Software configurable processors
SuVolta - Complementary JFETS on SOI
Symwave - Acquired by SMSC 11/2010
Synerchip - Video communications
Tabula - Programmable logic
Tag Array - RFID (status unknown)
Tagsys - RFID
Tahoe RF - Mixed-signal design and IP
Tallika - Acquired by SMSC 9/2009
Techtium - Power management
Tehuti Networks - 10G Ethernet
Tekmos - Legacy processors and ASICs
Teknovus - Acquired by Broadcom 3/2010
Telegent - Acquired by Spreadtrum 2011
Tensilica - Processor IP
Teranetics - Acquired by PLX 9/2010
Teridian - Acquired by Maxim 4/2010
Theta - Mixed-signal design and IP (Status unknown)
Tiempo - Microcontroller IP (Status unknown)
Tier Logic - Reported to have closed 7/2010
Tilera - Multi-core embedded processors
Time Domain - UWB for location systems
Touchstone - Low power analog
TPAK - Acquired by AppliedMicro 9/2010
T-RAM - Memory IP
TranSiC - Acquired by Fairchild 4/2011
Transphorm - GaN power devices
TriAccess - Acquired by TriQuint 9/2009
Triad - Mixed-signal ASICs
Triune - Power Management & ASICs
Tronics - MEMS
Tzero - Closed 2/2009
Uniquify - ASIC design services & IP
Unity - Acquired by Rambus 2/2012
UPEK - Merged with AuthenTec 9/2010
Valens - Video transport
Validity - Fingerprint reader
Varkon - PHY IP
Velox Semiconductor - (Closed?)
Verayo - Silicon Security
Vertical Circuits - 3D packaging
VinChip - Mixed-signal IP and design services
Vivante - Graphics processor IP
ViXS - Video processors
VTI - MEMS sensors
VT Silicon - Acquired by Microsemi 9/2010
Wave - Null Convention Logic
Wavesat - Acquired by Cavium 3/2011
Whizchip - ASIC design services
Wilocity - 60GHz wireless (WGA)
Wintegra - Acquired by PMC-Sierra 11/2010
Wisair - Wireless USB
WiSpry - MEMS tunable capacitors
Xceive - TV tuners
Xelerated - Acquired by Marvell 1/2012
Xmos - Multi-core embedded processors
Zenverge - Media processors
ZeroG - Acquired by Microchip 1/2010
ZiiLabs - Multimedia processors
Ziptronix - 3D packaging
ZyCube - 3D assembly and IC technology
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