French semiconductor maker Crocus Technology has raised $15.8 million in second round financing, in addition to $4.1 million from OSEO, France's public agency for funding innovation.
The company plans to use the round for continued development of its magnetic random access memory (MRAM) chips, which can store information using magnetic fields. These chips are less volatile, suck less power and are generally faster than the flash memory used in most computers and handheld electronics.
Crocus expects that its MRAM technology will start to replace flash once it goes commercial. But it isn't the only competitor in the field. Austin, Tex.-based Freescale Semiconductor Inc., an offshoot of EverSpin Technologies Inc., and Silicon Valley's Grandis Inc. are racing toward the same finish line with venture backing of their own, according to VentureWire.
Crocus' recent funding round included existing investors AGF Private Equity, CDC Innovation, NanoDimension, Sofinnova Ventures and Ventech.