Semiconductor IP company SureCore Ltd. (Leeds, England) has raised £1 million (about US$1.6 million) in Series A funding from Capital-E, Antwerp, Belgium, bringing total start-up funding to £2.1 million (US$3.4 million).
The money will be used for engineering expansion and to commercialize the company's low-power, variability tolerant SRAM technology that is currently undergoing evaluation at semiconductor companies, the company said.
Funding was secured in part by 28nm test chips run in March that delivered more than 50 percent power savings versus industry-standard embedded SRAM (see Startup Halves 28nm SRAM Power Consumption). The early test chip was manufactured by STMicroelectronics NV using its 28-nm fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FDSOI) process although SureCore has stated that the power saving is independent of process technology and applicable to bulk CMOS, FinFET and FDSOI processes. By partnering with a number of leading semiconductor companies, sureCore has gained access to advanced silicon processes.
"This funding comes at an ideal time and accelerates our drive to silicon results through our early development partners," said Paul Wells, CEO of SureCore.
"By combining its capital-efficient business model with a deeply experienced design team, sureCore has delivered industry-leading innovation in the critical arena of low power, bringing substantial benefits to our customers in the form of extended battery life, better thermal performance and improved reliability," said sureCore's Chairman, Guillaume D'Eyssautier.
Ashwin Kumaraswamy of Finance Yorkshire's Seedcorn Fund commented, "We were the founding investors in sureCore. Capital-E, a semiconductor specialist investor's involvement, further strengthens our investment philosophy of backing quality management teams to address large but specific market requirements. The investment will enable sureCore to gain customer traction by licensing its technology in the coming months."
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Startup Halves 28nm SRAM Power Consumption