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JUNE 30th, 2005
Xceive Receives $13.5 Million for Mobile TV Generation
Xceive Corporation, a company that offers multi-standard RF-to-baseband transceiver chips for deployment in
televisions, mobile phones, set top boxes and personal computers, has closed its Series C funding round. Investors in the
$13.5 million round included lead investor Sequoia Capital as well as Alliance Ventures, BA Venture Partners and Ignite Group.
The funds are planned for increased R&D, expanded production and to add staff at strategically picked locations.
JUNE 29th, 2005
Innovative Silicon Inc. (ISi), a company that has developed a memory
cell technology that has the potential to greatly reduce the silicon area memory requirements for SoC designs, has secured
$16 million in Series B funding. Austin Ventures led the round, which also included investments from Highland Capital
Partners, Index Ventures and Auriga Partners.
ISi's technology, called Z-RAM for Zero Capacitor DRAM, is
based on the emerging Silicon on Insulator (SOI) process technology and according to the company can increase embedded SRAM
density in the order of five fold and double the density of embedded DRAM.
Z-RAM technology has received positive feedback from designers according
to Basil Horangic, General Partner at Austin Ventures, "The feedback we received on Z-RAM from SOC and microprocessor
designers and manufacturers was outstanding. Z-RAM is revolutionary in that it really turns what was a minor bug of SOI into
a major feature and achieves for the first time a true scalable single device memory. Embedded memory is now so important
to advanced designs that we expect the Z-RAM innovation to have a major effect on semiconductor economics and performance."
The minor bug Mr. Horangic refers to is the floating body effect
associated with the SOI process. The floating body effects permits the novel one transistor, capacitor-less cell structure
of the design. It should be noted that IBM and Advanced Micro Devices have already adopted the SOI process for their newer
microprocessors. One of the reasons for SOI’s popularity is that chip designs based on SOI have lower power
consumption ratings - a primary consideration for chips targeted at the laptop computer design. The laptop market has
emerged as the primary growth engine of the overall PC market.
JUNE 28th, 2005
Global IP Sound (GIPS), a company that provides embedded voice processing
solutions to semiconductor, IP phone and gateway companies, has received $6.38 million in funding as a result of the issuance
of 3.5 million new shares. The company has grown with the VoIP market and reports that in 2004 it entered into over 30 new
license contracts and increased revenue over 267 percent.
Gary P. Hermansen, President and CEO of GIPS, with the funding announcement,
expressed an optimistic view point about 2005, "2005 will be our year of expansion. We are excited at the prospect of extending
the reach of GIPS technology in both products and markets. Our first goal is to support our product development efforts in
order to continue our tradition of product innovation and industry leadership. Meanwhile, we've set our sights on capturing
significant market share in the booming Asian market and on exploring new opportunities in the mobile and video markets."
GIPS lists its semiconductor customers as PMC-Sierra, Infineon,
and Texas Instruments, all with operations in the VoIP market. Other major customers the company notes include Logitech, Net2Phone,
Teleo, and WebEx.
JUNE 27th, 2005
HelloSoft, noted as a supplier of VoIP technology to the integrated
circuit market, has closed an oversubscribed round of funding. The Series B round brought in $16 million from investors that
included TD Capital Ventures, which led the round, as well as Mitsui & Company Venture Partners, Entrepia Ventures, Venrock
Associates, Sofinnova Ventures and Jump Startup.
Krishna Yarlagadda, CEO of HelloSoft indicated that the funding
would be used to further the company’s entrance into the multi-mode handset market, "This latest round of funding demonstrates
investors' confidence in our management team, strategy and roadmap. The new investment will help HelloSoft accelerate its
development of CelluLAN for the burgeoning mobile multi-mode handset market. With its experienced team and an innovative technology
portfolio, HelloSoft will continue focusing on the world's most advanced low-cost and low-power solutions."
Noting HelloSoft’s wireless convergence strategy was Jim Goldinger,
Director and Investment Partner of TD Capital Ventures, “The convergence of Cellular, VoIP, and Wi-Fi technologies is
inevitable and happening at a rate faster than expected. HelloSoft's deep domain experience and expertise in each of these
technologies makes the company uniquely positioned to take advantage of this opportunity. HelloSoft's visionary solutions
will enable cost-efficient mass deployment of multi-mode mobile communications devices for the converged marketplace."
HelloSoft, which counts semiconductor tier one companies in
its client base, has a staff of over 100 digital signal processing (DSP) engineers in Hyderabad, India.
JUNE 27th, 2005
FOCUS Enhancements, Inc. (NASDAQ: FCSE), through two separate arrangements
has obtained $4.2 million in commitments to assist the company in the development and marketing of its through-the-wall, wireless
home video transmission technology. The company secured $1.7 million through the private placement of 2.4 million new shares
of its common stock. The company also signed an eighteen month loan agreement valued at $2.5 million. That loan is an interest
only loan.
The company indicated that in addition to general use of the funds,
it also plans to expand the market for its FireStorm products and further develop its Ultra Wideband (UWB) chip technology.
According to Brett Moyer, CEO at FOCUS Enhancements, "These funding commitments complete our near-term financing goals and
provide added financial resources as we continue our solid progress on our strategic UWB initiative. Earlier this month we
announced the tape-out of the industry's first high-performance, 880 megabit per second (Mbps) wireless UWB chip, the first
of a two-part chipset solution, and the tape-out of the second chip is expected in September 2005. This financing allows FOCUS
Enhancements to invest further resources in providing a new generation of wireless-enabled, video-based consumer electronics
into the home, as well as further strengthening our Systems Business."
Moyer in his statements also projected revenue for the company’s
2005 year, "We are reiterating our previously stated financial outlook -- we currently expect full-year 2005 revenue to be
in the range of $25 million to $27 million, an increase of approximately 30 percent compared to the full-year 2004."
JUNE 27th, 2005
Through Canada’s Economic Development agency and the National
Research Council of Canada (NRC) has come news that the Government of Canada has invested $4.55 million in the Canadian Business
Alliance. The alliance with the NRC plans to use the funds to establish a nanoimprint lithography prototyping facility. The
nanofabrication centre has been planned for NRC's industrial materials research complex in Boucherville, Quebec Canada. The
facility is already home to an existing NanoImprint Lithography facility.
Dr. Pierre Coulombe, President of the National Research Council
of Canada, noted that nanotechnology was important to clean energy development in addition to electronic and biotechnology,
"The field of nanotechnology is having an enormous impact on the development of technologies as diverse as electronic and
photonic devices to biotechnology and clean energy production. This new complex will build upon NRC's expertise in this vital
field, and will support and accelerate the commercialization of leading-edge, Canadian nanotechnology research."
JUNE 27th, 2005
A round of funding valued at $24.5 million from the Government of
Canada and several other industry organizations is to be used for innovative automotive research projects. The funding,
to come through AUTO21, a network of research centers in Canada, is for 41 automobile research projects. The projects involve
almost every technology discipline from semiconductors, through fuel technology to nanotechnology and biomaterials. Older
drivers are also a focus of the projects. As the populations of the West ages, drivers to stay safely on the road could possibly
require everything from early warning collision systems to early warning driver medical alert systems. Such systems could
be mandated into law for medically challenged senior citizen.
Dr. Peter Frise, AUTO21 CEO. "This major investment is helping AUTO21
advance Canada's reputation as a leader in automotive research and development. The strong collaboration between government
and industry supporters and the Canadian research community is leading to new technologies and also a steady stream of highly
qualified student researchers who will lead the country's future automotive sector."
The 41 projects will involve over 230 researchers at 37 universities
throughout Canada. Specific projects mentioned include Safe Transportation for Seniors through Dr. M. Bedard, at Lakehead
University and Dr. J. Miller Polgar at the University of Western Ontario. Another entitled Enhanced Child Safety in Automobiles
will be through Dr. A. Howard, Hospital for Sick Children and Dr. A. Snowdon at the University of Windsor. Nanotechnology
projects, of which there are a number include new metal research for lighter and stronger automobiles and improved interior
design. Energy research extends across the spectrum of alternative fuels such as hydrogen and biodiesel as well as energy
generation through regenerative breaking. The Regenerative Braking Systems project is through Dr. S. Lambert, at the University
of Waterloo.
JUNE 24th, 2005
picoChip Obtains $20.5 Million in Third Round
picoChip, a wireless semiconductor company, has obtained $20.5 million in a third round of
funding led by Scottish Equity Partners. Other investors included Rothschild, Intel Capital, Pond Venture Partners and Atlas
Venture.
Guillaume d'Eyssautier, President at picoChip, indicated the company
planned to further its efforts in WiMAX market with the funding, "The quality of our backers is an endorsement of our leading
position in WiMAX. We will use this funding to expand on picoChip's success in WiMAX and deliver products for WCDMA, TD-SCDMA
and other wireless markets."
JUNE 24th, 2005
Funding for Silicon Based Fuel Cell Technology Included
in House Bill
Funding of $3.5 million for Neah Power Systems, Inc. has been included
in a federal appropriations bill for the development of a silicon based fuel cell technology. The new fuel cell technology
is expected to reduce the form factor of fuel cells. Weight reductions for batteries based on silicon technology may be in
the order of 50 percent. Final funding for the project is expected to be determined later in 2005.
JUNE 20th, 2005
Super Bright LED Technology Spins Additional $2 Million Investment - White
Light Bulb Contender
Lamina Ceramics has obtained a $2 million investment from SpaceVest.
The round C financing was led by Granite Global, which contributed $6 million to the $9 million in financing. Others involved
in the round included Morgenthaler Ventures
Lamina with the financing announcement also reported that it has also
broke the bright LED record with its brightest ever LED array with a 28,000 lumen solid-state white light engine. The company’s
Ultra-high lumen LEDs technology are also another LED achievement. Devices based on this technology are capable of producing
16 million colors in an area smaller than a small sized coat button.
Lamina, founded in 2001, as a spin-off of Sarnoff Corporation, has
based its award winning ceramic on metal LED technology on over 12 years of research conducted at Sarnoff. Lamina received
the Best New LED Product and Technical Innovation Award at Lightfair International.
JUNE 20th, 2005
SemiSouth Laboratories, Inc., a company focused on silicon carbide
electronics and materials used in high power and high temperature applications, has raised funding from Delta Capital and
the Southern Appalachian Fund, II-VI, Inc The amount, which remained undisclosed, is in addition to $2 million the company
received from II-VI Incorporated in April of 2005.
Jeff Casady, SemiSouth's President, indicated that the funds will
be used to expand capacity to meet customers needs, "We are selling to several customers who have asked us to expand our capacity
to meet their needs. This investment will allow us to accommodate their requests, and we are actively putting these resources
in place to help our customers grow."
JUNE 17th, 2005
Crossbow Arranges $12 Million in New Round of Financing
from Intel and Cisco
Crossbow Technology, known for its Smart Dust wireless sensors, has rounded up $12 million
in its latest round of financing. Besides investments from well known Intel Capital and Cisco Systems, the company also received
an investment from Paladin Capital Group.
Commenting on the investment and Crossbow's profitability was Crossbow's
President and CEO, Mike Horton, "Crossbow has been profitable since 2002, and this additional working capital will help us
expand both our international operations and the company's research and development programs. This is Paladin Capital Group
and Cisco Systems' first investment in Crossbow, and a follow-on investment for Intel Capital. "To have both the worldwide
leader in networking for the Internet and the world's largest chip maker invest in Crossbow puts us in a unique position.
In addition to the investments, Crossbow will have technology collaboration projects underway with Cisco and Intel."
The news of the funding follows closely with the news of the release
of Crossbow's new sensor device targeted at the industrial automation market. That device will enable a number of new and
interesting applications related to robotic miniature airplanes that could possible serve as point-to-point or as-the-crow
fly package delivery systems for large corporate campuses and industrial complexes.
Founded in 1995, Crossbow has shipped more than 500,000 of its advanced
sensors to over 1,000 customers. Its sensor technology is based on micromachine, otherwise known as micro-electro-mechanical
system (MEMS) technology.
JUNE 17th, 2005
Genoa Color Technologies' Primary Color Technology Secures
$5 Million
Genoa Color Technologies has closed a $5 million round of financing led by Vertex Venture Capital.
The company will use the funds to further develop its award winning technology. The company's ColorPeak Multi-Primary Color
television display system was selected by Popular Science in 2004 as the best new home entertainment technology. That system
is based on the company's chips, which increase the color resolution and brightness of displays - effectively increasing the
number of visible colors that can be displayed.
Genoa plans to use the capital to further expand its market in Asia.
Yoram Oron, founder and managing partner of Vertex Venture Capital, commented on the investment and Genoa, "The production
of flat panel displays, especially LCD TVs, is one of the fastest growing industries. We believe that Genoa can become the
market leader in improving the viewing experience of consumers using the new displays. We were impressed by the technical
and commercial achievements of Genoa and its management team."
JUNE 15th, 2005
Pixim Closes $12 Million for Image Capture and Processing
Silicon
Pixim , Inc., a company that provides software and silicon for digital cameras capture and
process image applications has closed a $12 million investment round. The funding was made available through Mohr Davidow
Ventures, Mayfield, and Newbury Ventures, Honda Motor Company Ltd. and Atrium Venture Partners.
The funds are planned for the development of new interactive products
based on the company's Digital Pixel System technology. The company is already shipping its D2000 chipset, which includes
a digital image sensor and digital image processor, to over 15 camera manufacturers. The camera companies have based security
and surveillance camera systems on the D2000.
The company indicates that the technology incorporated into the
chipset enables images to be seen in either well or poorly lit environments. Pixim also suggests that cameras are expected
to become a part of most automobiles. To meet that emerging market trend, the company has found a partner in the automotive
market. According to Joe Montalbo, CEO, "We're pleased to continue to receive excellent support from our investors, and look
forward to working closely with Honda and Atrium."
JUNE 15th, 2005
Series A Funding Brings $15 Million for SiBEAM's Gbps Wireless
Chip Technology
SiBEAM, Inc., a fabless semiconductor company founded just this year, has secured $15 million
in Series A funding from New Enterprise Associates, US Venture Partners, and Foundation Capital. The company plans to used
the funds for the development of wireless technology that permits data communication rates in the gigabit range.
To develop the new high speed wireless technology, the company has
as its chairman, Dr. Bob Broderson, who also was affiliated with the founding of Atheros Communications, one of the fabless
market leaders in the WiFi wireless network chip space. Mr. Broderson has been a UC Berkeley professor for 33 years and co-director
of the Berkeley Wireless Research Center.
JUNE 15th, 2005
Tharus Raises $5.5 Million for Development of EDA Verification Appliances
Tharas Systems Inc has secured $5.5 million in venture capital funding from El Dorado Ventures,
NeoCarta Ventures; Alliance Venture Management, LLC; Andy Bechtolsheim, the co-founder of Sun Microsystems, a member of Tharus
boards, Dr. Prabhu Goel. The funding was led by El Dorado Ventures. Tharas, which provides the semiconductor and embedded
systems industry with hardware assisted verification solutions, plans to use the funds for the development of its next-generation
verification applications as well as expand its sales and technical support network.
According to Charles Beeler, General Partner at El Dorado Ventures,
Tharas revenues are in growth mode, "We are impressed with Tharas' consistent execution and the company's revenue growth in
the hardware-assisted verification segment of the EDA market. With last week's introduction of its new family of Hammer verification
appliances, we're confident that the company will continue to gain further traction and expand its presence in the verification
market."
Tharus addresses the time-intensive design verification market with
a hardware accelerated custom verification tools. The Hammer tools have been developed to shorten verification time and reduce
the engineering overhead associated with the growing functional density of SoCs and embedded system products.
JUNE 14th, 2005
The Center for Nanoelectronic Technology or more formally, the Fraunhofer-Center
Nanoelektronische Technologien CNT, is now open for business. The facility, located in Dresden, Germany, is run by the Fraunhofer
Society and two semiconductor manufactures, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Infineon Technologies AG.
Industry partners and a number of research and economic development
organizations have planned to further fund the facility with over 700 million Euros in the coming years. The facility, which
was officially opened on May 31, 2005, is equipped with a clean room for the development of 50 nanometer semiconductor process
technologies.
JUNE 13th, 2005
Bay Microsystems, with an announcement that it has reached profitability
on record revenue growth, also reported that it entered into a definitive agreement to purchase another fabless semiconductor
company, Parama Networks. In order to acquire the company, Bay Microsystems also reported it has raised $8.4 million in a
Series D funding round.
Bay and Parama chip technology is expected to result in expanded
product offering for its customers. Bay offers its Internetworking Processor line of chips for voice, video and data packet
processing applications and Parama offers its ADM-on-a-Chip for telecommunications applications.
Bay Microsystems, which has a partnering agreement with the United
States Government and several OEM customers, expects its high revenue growth to continue
JUNE 10th, 2005
Clear Shape Technologies Inc. has aligned with the financial
units of high profile semiconductor and semiconductor equipment manufacturers as part of the chip's industry's latest effort
to address the challenge of near atomic-scale semiconductor process technologies. In order to help achieve that goal, Clear
Shape Technologies received more than $5 million in venture capital commitments in its second round of financing, bringing
its total to over $10 million. Included in the latest round of funding for the design for manufacturing (DFM) company, was
Intel Capital, the venture capital arm of Intel Corporation, the world's largest semiconductor company, and KT Venture Group,
the investment partner for semiconductor equipment giant KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ:KLAC).
Clear Shape Technologies, Inc. with the funding is expected to further
advance its DFM software, designed to allow engineers to systematically detect design errors that lead to less than optimum
yield, design time, performance specifications and catastrophic manufacturing failures. According to Atul Sharan, Clear Shape
President and CEO, “Our mission is to deliver our patented technology to every design team in the world, so they can
design confidently for sub-90 nanometers with high yield, maximize the utilization of process technology, and accelerate time
to market.”
Indicating a direct link between KLA-Tencor's effort to solve the
yield problems and its investment in Clear Shape was Robert Lee, General Partner at KT Venture Group., “Clear Shape
has a substantial value proposition for their customers. Their approach is in alignment with KLA-Tencor’s strategy in
addressing the increasingly urgent manufacturing and yield issues that are now extremely design-dependent.”
Emphasizing the need to produce design software package that simplify
interrelated design-to-process manufacturing concepts into a tool engineers can readily use was Jim Hogan, General Partner
at Telos Ventures, one of the Series A investors, “In my 30-plus years in the semiconductor industry, rarely have I
seen a situation where there is so much angst as a result of such fundamental changes as are being currently witnessed in
the design to manufacturing chain. The problems associated with lithography, copper and an inadequate rule-based design tools
infrastructure are only getting worse. Clear Shape has a strong and talented technical team spanning both design and process
technology. They have a highly innovative approach to closing the critical gap in information and knowledge for the semiconductor
industry.”
Early investors in Clear Shape, through a Series A round in 2004,
included Venture Partners, Telos Ventures and AsiaTech Management. Clear Shape was founded in 2003.
JUNE 10th, 2005
Optichron
Reduces Nonlinear Distortion 90 Percent - New Module Includes Linearizer Technology
Optichron Inc. a fabless semiconductor company, which just this March received $17 million
in Series B venture capital funding, has introduced its first products that incorporate its advanced nonlinear signal processing
technology, called Turbolinear. The company states that Turbolinear reduces nonlinear distortion by more than 90 percent in
high-speed piplelined data converters.
The Turbolinear technology is now available in the company's analog
to digital converter modules for applications such as multi-channel / multi-mode receivers, base stations and medical imaging
equipment. Specifications for one of the modules, the M1400A-105 ADC module, which incorporates Optichron's Linearizer integrated
circuit along with an AD6645 ADC and AD8351 amplifier, include a Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) of 70 dB and a Spurious Free
Dynamic Range (SFDR) of 90 dB. Both specifications are based on an input frequency of 150 MHz. Volume production of the 105
is expected in the fourth quarter of 2005.
Roy Batruni, CEO of Optichron noted the cost significance of the
encapsulated achievement, "Optichron's Turbolinear technology is the first of its kind to transform nonlinear signal processing
from the realm of pure science into a practical engineering language uniquely suited to address the pervasive problem of nonlinear
distortion. Turbolinear technology allows engineers to utilize versatile filter architectures that eliminate nonlinear distortion
in a way that is both cost-effective and easy to implement in low-power semiconductor products."
JUNE 9th, 2005
IRI Ubiteq, a developer of integrated circuits and sensors for visually
impaired applications, will launch an IPO on June 14 on the Osaka Securities Exchange Hercules market. Approximately 280 million
yen is expected to be raised from the initial public offering. For the company's current fiscal year, the company projects
revenue of 4.43 billion yen. IRI Ubiteq employs about 100 people.
JUNE 9th, 2005
Tehuti Networks' Series A Funding Valued at $4.2 Million
Tehuti Networks, a network traffic accelerator chip company, has completed $4.2 million in
Series A financing. The round was led by Alice Ventures and joined by its existing investors, Alice Lab and ProSeed Venture
Capital Fund.
Miki Granski, Chairman of the Board of Tehuti Networks, with the
funding announcement commented on the company's technology, "Tehuti Networks has developed a unique approach to solving the
TCP/IP processing problem that is becoming critical for many large enterprises. The company's unique value proposition combined
with the executive team's proven leadership and operational experience will enable Tehuti Networks to capitalize on a significant
market opportunity." Tehuti also claims that its current Network Traffic Accelerator chip technology improves system performance
up to five times.
JUNE 9th, 2005
Optosecurity Lands $2.4 Million in First Round
Optosecurity, Inc., a company with luggage and cargo screening technology, has closed a $2.4
million (Canadian) investment round. This first round was led by Business Development Bank of Canada Seed Investment Group
and included funding from Innovatech Quebec.
Eric Bergeron, President and CEO of Optosecurity, noted the initial
market response to its technology "Government regulators and screening equipment vendors from around the world immediately
recognized how unique and valuable Optosecurity products and technology can be -- we are actively in discussions with several
partners who appreciate the full impact of our technology and how it will revolutionize security screening."
Elaborating slightly on the nature of the technology was Jean-Guy
Paquet, President and CEO of INO, "We are delighted that Optosecurity has obtained financing which will allow this promising
company to break new grounds with the use of the Optical Computing technology. We are very happy to once again offer the private
sector INO's vast expertise developed over the years through our team of qualified researchers."
Optosecurity's product, which is used in the design of systems for
the detection of weapons or explosives is based on the Optical Correlator. The company obtained exclusive rights for the Optical
Correlator from the National Optics Institute (INO), which spun-off Optosecurity. INO is considered Canada's largest R&D
center in applied photonics. INO research operations are focused on microoptic technology based on micro-electro-mechanical
system (MEMS) optics. The organization uses software from ANSYS to simulate its microoptic based MEMS designs.
JUNE 9th, 2005
Yogitech Brings in One Million Euros
YOGITECH , has received funding of 1 million Euros from Toscana Venture of SICI (Sviluppo Imprese
Centro Italia). The company has plans to introduce a fault tolerant system on a chip platform for electronic designs used
in safety and repair diagnostic applications. The platform, due out in the second half of 2005, is based on the IEC 61508
standard, an international standard for electronic systems that require high reliability because they are used in critical
safety applications like automobiles.
JUNE 6th, 2005
Catalyst Venture Partners Increases Fast Track Technology
Funding
Through an agreement with Quester, another venture capital company located in the United Kingdom,
Catalyst Venture Partners, has increased its funds available to technology companies through its Accelerator Programme. Of
interest to Catalyst was Quester's three University Seed and Investment Funds For Quester, Catalysts Accelerator Programme
was a main point of interest. According to Jamie Brooke, a Director at Quester, "Joining Catalyst's Technology Funding Partnership
makes perfect sense for Quester as we are extremely impressed with the role Catalyst plays in getting companies ready for
funding. Its Accelerator Programme is rapidly gaining an enviable reputation as a basis for preparing companies for investment
and fast growth. The Programme is also a natural complement for our strategy of investing in early-stage technology companies.
We have investment funds available and participating in Catalyst's Technology Funding Partnership will ensure that we have
an early insight to some very high quality investment opportunities."
In addition to investing in emerging companies, Quester through
the Isis College Fund, Sulis Seedcorn Fund and Lachesis Fund, manages seed funds for nine universities. Its focus has been
on emerging information and communication technology (ICT) and healthcare/life sciences. Catalyst is also focused on
the technology sectors with a fund that has reached over £400 million. According to Richard Turner, a partner at Catalyst
Venture Partners, "The aim of our Technology Funding Partnership is to create a fast-track to investment for technology innovators."
JUNE 6th, 2005
Siemens Venture Capital, a $600 million corporate venture organization
for Siemens AG, has made a multimillion dollar investment in Global Locate, Incorporated, a provider of GPS (Global Positioning
Satellite) chipsets, network products, and services. Global Locate addresses the Assisted-GPS (A-GPS) market for Location
Based Services.
Related to the funding package, Siemens Communications Group,
part of the $90 Billion Siemens AG group of companies, has agreed to integrate Global Locate's A-GPS technology into its own
A-GPS products.
JUNE 6th, 2005
Motorola Purchases Interest in Sonaptic
Motorola has purchased a minority interest in Sonaptic Limited. Sonaptic is noted for its chip
technology, which gives high quality 3D surround with just 20 Kbytes of memory requirement. The technology is considered an
ideal way to reduce the size of the new multimedia cellular phones that seek to compete with the current wave of popular MP3
players. Among those that have adopted Sonaptic's technology, which comes in either chip or software formats, are cellular
phone companies and chip companies. Motorola has major operations in the cellular handset market and is intricately linked
to its spin-off, Freescale Semiconductor, which presently supplies large quantities of chips to Motorola.
JUNE 6th, 2005
Renewable Ventures Buyout of nv Nuon Completed
Renewable Ventures LLC, a provider of renewable energy financing and operator of five renewable
energy plants, has completed the management buyout of the renewable energy subsidiary of nv Nuon, the largest utility company
in the Netherlands. The acquisition of the United States based subsidiary is part of company's plan to address the clean energy
market, a market the company pegs at $16.1 billion.
According to Matt Cheney, CEO at Renewable, the company will continue
to offer financing for green energy projects, "Through this acquisition, we are delighted to continue the work that Nuon,
one of the world energy industry's leading proponents and marketers of green electricity, has begun by offering commercial
and government customers innovative renewable energy financing solutions. Our focus on project financing and third party operation
of alternative-energy generation facilities encourages customers to fulfill the promise of renewable energy by mitigating
set-up costs, simplifying ongoing operation and managing energy price volatility; in short, we make it a lot easier to become
a producer of clean power."
JUNE 3rd, 2005
New Visual Corporation (OTCBB:NVEI), known for its Embarq transport
chipset, has raised $3.5 million from a private placement of three year 7% Senior Secured Convertible Debentures. The funds
are planned according to Brad Ketch, New Visual's CEO to complete the beta version of the chipset, "These funds will allow
us to aggressively pursue our goal of completing the beta version of the chipset this year. Our powerful technology will add
fuel to the fire of broadband growth around the world." Expanding on the importance of the high speed, long distance copper-based
communications technology, Ketch added, "My recent conversations with the presidents of several telephone companies confirm
that the Embarq transport chipset is critical to the success of their growth strategies. Their strategy of competing with
cable companies for consumers' entertainment dollars is made much more profitable with New Visual's technology."
JUNE 2, 2005
Paratek Microwave, Inc., a company that has several patents and
RF wireless products based on nano-cyrstalline thin films, has raised $14 million in a Series C financing round. Investors
included Polaris Venture Partners, Morgenthaler Ventures, Novak Biddle Venture Partners, Investor Growth, and ABS Ventures
The company, which earlier this year won a $1.125 million contract
from the University of California at Riverside, for Nanoscale Science and Engineering, foresees its next generation technology
resulting in products with real-time adaptive impedance matching, which will in turn result in lower power consumption. That
technology combines the company's tunable RF and microwave dielectric materials with its miniaturized 3D circuit and module
designs, Indications are that the company's technology can be applied to a broad range of RF circuits and frequency bands.
James DiLorenzo, Paratek's CEO commented on the acceptance of the
company's products, "Our electronically tunable products have been well received in the marketplace and, working in partnership
with several major industry players, we will release a new generation of even more capable products later this year."
JUNE 2, 2005
imaging Technology international (iTi), a provider of equipment and tools to the industrial
ink jet market has completed a Series A funding round. Investors in the round included IKONICS Corporation and Severance Capital
Management. iTi presently offers a number of products for the ink jet market. These include a system used to measure and analyze
jet-able fluids used in print heads, a XY Materials Deposition System used in ink-jet process development, and a range of
large format printers. The company, which describes its growth as rapid, now sees a wide range of new markets its technology
can be applied to. According to Mr. R. Bruce Morgan, CEO of iTi, "iTi is well positioned to capitalize on the rapid adoption
of digital workflow in previously analog production processes in markets such as low-density electronics, flat panel displays,
pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. Our investor group understands industrial ink jet is a transformational technology that
will drive digital processes into strategic manufacturing operations at large industrial users worldwide."
Mr. H. Leigh Severance of Severance Capital Management added to
Mr. Morgan's statement, "Ink jet technology is well known in the home and office printing markets, but it is the belief of
iTi and the investment group that this technology has the potential to play an even larger role in transforming traditional
analog manufacturing processes by introducing digital workflow into industrial production. The Company has a proven track
record supplying Fortune 500 manufacturers with industrial ink jet development tools and production systems, and I view this
as a ground-floor opportunity to invest in an important technology that will change the way many products get built in the
near future."
iTi plans to introduce a second production system in the coming
few weeks for the production of photo quality labels and to print electronics and pharmaceuticals on flexible substrates.
JUNE 2, 2005
One-Stop Contract Design House Funded
Lyrtech Inc. (TSX Venture: LYT), a company that provides complete electronic contract services,
has entered into a $500,000 financing agreement with SociDetDe Innovatech QuDebec and ChaudiGere-Appalaches. The funding came
in the form of a 10% unsecured convertible debenture.
Lyrtech, which focuses on DSP/FPGA based technology, is partners
with a number of semiconductor companies. These include Altera, StarCore, Texas Instruments, The MathWorks, and Xilinx. All
of these companies have operations in either DSP or FPGA technology.
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