Teranetics scores $2M for Ethernet chips
Teranetics, maker of chips that allow 10-gigabit Ethernet signals to be transmitted over copper wire, has brought in $2 million of a targeted $12.3 million round of equity, debt, rights and securities, according to a filing with the SEC. The San Jose, Calif. company was previously backed by Columbia Capital, GGV Capital, Global Catalyst Partners, LSI Logic, U.S. Venture Partners and Venrock.
Satmetrix takes $1M for customer loyalty software
Satmetrix Systems, a Foster City, Calf. company that rovides customer loyalty software, has raised $1 million in debt financing, according to a regulatory filing. VentureBeat last covered it when it acquired its rival Informative in 2007. It has raised about $30 million from Aspen Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures, Stanford University and Siebel Systems (since acquired by Oracle), and $75 million from New Enterprise Associates, Walden International, Apex Venture Partners, Sevin Rosen Funds, Crystal Internet Venture… Continue Reading
WiMax chip provider Beceem raises $20M
Beceem Communications, one of the top providers of WiMax chipsets, announced that it’s brought in $20 million in a fifth round of funding to scale its manufacturing operations.
The round was led by Motorola and included Global Catalyst Partners, Khosla Ventures, KTB Ventures, Walden International, Intel Capital, NEC, Mitsui and Samsung. Beceem, based in Santa Clara, Calif., has raised $110 million to date.
Siimpel raises undisclosed round for low-power micro-cameras
Siimpel, manufacturer of precise low-power mobile and digital cameras, announced an undisclosed round of strategic funding from LG Innotek. The Arcadia, Calif. company previously raised $75 million from backers Motorola Ventures, DOCOMO Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Global Catalyst Partners, Portage Venture Partners, Scale Venture Partners, Sun America Ventures and Zone Venture Fund.
In the fall, Siimpel said it was going to start developing micro-elecro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) technology ideal for cell phones.
Yoomba latest in wave of VoIP closures
Yoomba, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based company that let users send and receive phone calls and instant messages through their email programs, has shut its doors, reports VentureWire — continuing the trend of VoIP consolidations and failures that has emptied a once crowded space (including still afloat Jajah and Broadsoft).
There was a fairly salient flaw in Yoomba’s business model — users could only call others who had downloaded the program, and its market share just wasn’t… Continue Reading
Melodis matches $7 million with its music discovery service
Ever hear a catchy tune but not know the name of the song or the artist? Midomi, a web site and mobile service, lets you play a recorded song or sing a snippet of it yourself, and then it matches that information to its library of more than 17 million song samples. Then, you can listen to the recommended samples and go buy the song on iTunes or watch related videos on YouTube.
Midomi’s parent company,… Continue Reading
Chip maker SliceX raises $15M, gets new CEO
SliceX, a maker of analog and mixed-signal chips, has raised $15 million in a second round of funding. The round was led by Crosslink Capital, with participation from existing investors Global Catalyst Partners and BlueRun Ventures, and brings SliceX’s total funding to $25 million.
The San Jose, Calif. company also named Yusuf Haque, a semiconductor industry veteran, as its new chief executive. SliceX says its chips will target everything from video imaging to industrial equipment to… Continue Reading
Actelis adds on $15M for copper-based broadband service
Actelis Networks, a Fremont, Calif.-based ethernet company that enables high speed transfers over existing copper-based wire infrastructure, has raised $15 million in a sixth financing round, according to Globes.
The company, which has its R&D center in Israel, maintains a worldwide sales network and has a number of international partners, although it has also gained deployments in both rural and metropolitan areas of the United States.
The $15 million funding was provided by ATA Ventures, The Carlyle… Continue Reading
Stealth finance software firm Verient raises an additional $1.5 million
Verient is a stealth company based in San Jose, Calif. that is building software to manage transactions for financial institutions, to help them make money both online and offline, chief executive Rajesh Shakkarwar tells me.
He’s not saying much more at this point, but the company has raised $1.5 million from
DoCoMo Capital and Global Catalyst Partners, which is a more recent part of an earlier round we covered. The company previously raised $2.13 million of… Continue Reading
Chip company Teranetics raises $25M
Teranetics, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based chip company, has raised $25 million in a fourth round of funding, PEWire reports. The company has raised $53 million since 2003.
The current round included Columbia Capital, Granite Global Ventures, Global Catalyst Partners, Venrock and U.S. Venture Partners.
Teranetics serves the 10-gigabit Ethernet copper channel market. Read our previous coverage here.
Siimpel raises $21.5M for imaging technology for cellphones
Siimpel Corp., an Arcadia, Calif., maker of imaging technology for cellphone cameras, has raised $21.5 million in a fourth round of funding.
SunAmerica Ventures led the round. Other investors include Motorola, Qualcomm and Micron Technology and existing backers Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Scale Venture Partners, Global Catalyst Partners, Portage Venture Partners and Zone Venture Partners.
The company improves imaging for camera technology in cellphones, using MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems), optics, electro-optical design, image sensors, packaging and camera electronics.
IKoa raises $9.4M for first round for boring chip company….or exciting email analytics?
iKoa has raised $9.4 million in a first round of funding. Global Catalyst Partners led the deal, and was joined by Khosla Ventures, according to PE Week. Backers include Khosla Ventures and Global Catalyst Partners. The Menlo Park, Calif. company’s website describes itself as a semiconductor startup with engineering and development in Hyderabad, India. But its regulatory filing says that it is developing software for email analytics.
Crafty!
Update: We’ve done some poking around, and are… Continue Reading
Aquest, semiconductor manufacturing automation co., receives $20M
Aquest Systems, a Sunnyvale company that supplies automation equipment to the semiconductor manufacturing industry, said it has raised $20 million in its second round of venture financing.
Menlo Ventures led the round, which included Walden International and Global Catalyst Partners.
Beceem raises $40M more for mobile WiMax offering
Santa Clara’s Beceem Communications, a leading provider of WiMax chips for mobile phones, said it has raised more than $40 million in a fourth round of financing, and may raise more.
The promise of WiMax is that it ranges as far as 10 miles, while WiFi reaches only a few hundred feet. It’s challenge is that is just now being rolled out, and so it is untested in most of the world. Intel wants to use… Continue Reading
Actelis, an ethernet over copper co., raises $22M more
Actelis Networks, a Fremont, Calif, company that offers telecom carriers a way of distributing ethernet over existing copper lines, said it has raised $22 million in a fifth round of venture capital.
The round was led by Adams Street Partners, and including existing investors ATA Ventures, Global Catalyst Partners, Dupont Capital, the Carlyle Group, Innovacom Venture Capital, Vertex, Walden International, New Enterprise Associates and Independent Venture Fund.
In a statement sent to VentureBeat, the company cited… Continue Reading
Teranetics, a communications chip co., raises $20M
Teranetics, a Santa Clara chip start-up serving the 10-gigabit Ethernet copper channel market, has raised around $20 million in a third round of funding, according to PE Week. Backers include Venrock Associates, US Venture Partners, Portview Communications Partners, Granite Global Ventures, Global Catalyst Partners and Columbia Capital.
Mobile broadcast chip co., NewPort Media, raises $30M
Newport Media, a chip company based in Lake Forest, Calif., serving the mobile broadcast media market, said it has raised $30 million in a third round of financing round. This makes for a whopping $66M in funding in less than two years, and shows that building chip companies — even fabless ones, like NewPort — takes cash.
The funding is led by new investor DAG Ventures. Previous investors Benchmark Capital, Global Catalyst Partners, Oak Investment… Continue Reading
Verient raises $2.13 million
Verient, a tech startup in Cupertino, has secured $2.13 million of an $8.45 million Series A round led by Global Catalyst Partners, according to a regulatory filing cited by PE Week.
Chip investments rising in China: The AMFE and Montalvo cases
Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment, a Shanghai company that makes semiconductor processing equipment, said it has raised $35 million in a second round of funding.
This is just the latest example of how Chinese chip related companies are attracting venture money, even as U.S. companies seem to be getting less. (See our story here for news about the latest Silicon Valley chip start-up, Montalvo.)
The company, founded in 2004, said it is building cutting-edge integrated circuit manufacturing fabs.
Participants… Continue Reading
Digital display component co., Miradia, raises around $15M
Miradia, a Sunnyvale start-up building digital micro displays components, has raised around $15 million in third-round funding, according to PE Week. Return backers include Global Catalyst Partners, Jafco Ventures, Sequoia Capital, VentureTech Alliance and Worldview Technology Partners, the report said.