Audience dials up $15M to suppress noise on cell phones
Audience, maker of mobile chips that can dampen background noise when people speak on their cell phones, just brought in $15 million in a fourth round of funding. This brings the Mountain View, Calif. company’s total capital to $60 million since its inception in 2004.
Audience… Continue Reading
Cree settles patent suit with LED co. Bridgelux
Efficient lighting company Cree has settled its patent infringement lawsuit with Sunnyvale, Calif. LED maker Bridgelux after two years of litigation. Not only must Bridgelux pay to license the technology from Cree — technology that increases the efficiency of LED lighting systems — but it… Continue Reading
Maxim Integrated acquires Mobilygen for video compression
Surveillance semiconductor company Maxim Integrated Products announced that it will buy private video chip maker Mobilygen for an undisclosed amount. The large public company hopes the acquisition will provide it with the compression technology it needs to make analog security cameras compatible with digital streaming,… Continue Reading
InvenSense takes on $19M for phone motion sensing
While the first thing many people will think of when they hear “motion sensing” is home security systems, the technology that InvenSense is working on has more in common with a Nintendo Wii than ADT.
InvenSense makes gyroscopes and accelerometers that can sense the movements users… Continue Reading
Audience announces $15M for clear voice communications
Audience, a maker of voice processing technology that mimics the sort of audio processing that happens in the human brain, has announced its $15 million third round of financing.
We actually covered Audience’s unveiling in February, and first broke news on the funding, but the announcement… Continue Reading
BridgeLux, a high-efficiency LED maker, adds on $40M
BridgeLux has secured a hefty $40 million round to use for product development and expansion, despite facing ongoing patent litigation from giant LED maker Cree.
BridgeLux, like Cree, makes the chip that is the light-emitting part of LEDs, which it then sells to other firms. The… Continue Reading
Validity raises $20M for fingerprint scanners
Validity Sensors, based in San Jose, Calif., develops technology for fingerprint sensors used in laptops and other devices.
The company works with partners like Cogent Systems and Synaptics to develop and commercialize its products, which it began selling earlier this quarter.
Crosslink Capital led another $20 million… Continue Reading
Power Analog Microelectronics raises $6M for AV equipment
Power Analog Microelectronics makes high-powered LED display driver semiconductors and Class-D digital audio amplifiers, both for the consumer and communications markets.
The Santa Clara, Calif. company’s high voltage equipment goes into automotive, consumer audio, flat panel display and lighting applications.
PAM was founded in 2004, and took… Continue Reading
Optichron, a communications distortion removing co., raises $12M
Optichron, a Fremont, Calif. chip company that removes “nonlinear” distortion from signaling systems in wireless telephony, WiMax and GPS, said it has raised $12 million more in financing.
It also appointed Thomas E. Carlson as chief financial officer. See the company’s full statement here.
Investors included US… Continue Reading
Update: Quellan raises $20M for mobile phone noise-reduction — delay on profitability
Quellan, a Santa Clara, Calif. company that reduces noise interference on weak wireless signals, said it has raised $20 million in a third round of financing.
[Update: The company, which originally said it would be profitable this year, now says it won’t be profitable until the… Continue Reading
Neoconix, maker of circuit board interconnects, raises $16M
Neoconix, a provider of electrical interconnects for circuit boards that allows circuit boards to become smaller, has raised $16 million in a third round of financing.
The round was led by VentureTech Alliance, and included existing backers J.P. Morgan Partners, Venrock Associates, U.S. Venture Partners and… Continue Reading
Validity Sensors raises $20M more for fingerprint sensors
Validity Sensors, San Jose start-up the builds advanced fingerprint sensors, has raised $20 million in its latest round of venture capital, in what appears to be a formal financial restart of the company.
The round included a “substantial investment” from Qualcomm Ventures, according to the company,… Continue Reading