PLANO, Texas, Nov. 1, 2001 - SyChip, Inc, a fabless semiconductor company that designs, develops and markets Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFIC) and Chip Scale Modules (CSM) for wireless Internet appliances, today announced it has closed the first part of its $20 million round of funding.
SyChip announced that it has secured $15 million in equity financing and will consider additional investment of up to $5 million in a subsequent close by the end of November. The round was led by 3i, a leading international venture capital company, and includes other influential technology investors such as Alliance Technology Ventures (ATV), Lucent Technologies and Pacesetter Capital.
"SyChip will utilize the capital to support its RF IC and CSM development for 802.11 and GSM/GPRS products. The funds will also be used to ramp up production of our award-winning Global Positioning Module GPS2020," said Moses Asom, Co-Founder and Senior VP of Marketing and Business Development of SyChip, Inc.
"Today's announcement is a significant endorsement of the company and its value proposition which enables its customers to get plug and play, highly integrated RF solutions for wireless Internet appliances with industry-leading time to market," said Marko Maschek, of 3i and a newly elected SyChip Board Member. "With a small size and low battery power, the company's products address the most important factors of the wireless market as well as a wide range of wireless technologies."
SyChip also announced today that George J. Barber has joined SyChip as President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Barber has also been elected to SyChip's Board of Directors. George brings more than 20 years of semiconductor industry experience to the company. "George has the combination of market, engineering and operational experience to lead SyChip's business to strong revenue growth and profitability," said Stephen Socolof a SyChip Board Member and founder of Lucent New Ventures Group. "His proven leadership and vast industry experience is a vital asset as we prepare to address this fast-growing market."
"To gain investor attention in today's market, it is essential for a company to have a strong business model, strong management team and a disruptive technology. SyChip has all these elements," said Bill Lyman, Principal at Alliance Technology Ventures and SyChip Board Member.
"The funding is a key milestone for SyChip, and a strong indicator of investor satisfaction with the company's technology, market strategy and business vision. SyChip has developed a revolutionary technology that gives us an unprecedented advantage in our ability to integrate high Q passives components and transistors in a highly integrated chip scale module," said George J. Barber. "The innovative technology from Bell Labs, the RF system design capabilities, and the focus on one of the fastest growing segments in the telecommunication sector are the key attributes that really excited me about the opportunity. I'm proud to be a member of this world class team, and I look forward to contributing my experience to position SyChip as a premier RFIC and CSM company".
SyChip, Inc. has recently moved its headquarters from Warren, NJ to Plano, TX.
About SyChip, Inc.
SyChip, Inc. designs, develops and markets Radio
Frequency Integrated Circuits and Chip Scale Modules for the wireless Internet
appliance market. The company focuses on developing highly integrated RF modules
that are differentiated because of proprietary integration, modular
architectures, and low loss Silicon technologies. As a result of the proprietary
silicon substrate and world class RF system design team, SyChip's RF designs are
more predictable and easier to simulate, thus reducing time-to-market,
increasing performance and improving reliability. More information is available
at the Web site www.sychip.com.
About 3i
3i is a leading international venture capital company
with U.S. offices in Palo Alto, CA and Waltham, MA. Operating since 1945, 3i has
invested worldwide over $19 billion through its 16-country and 3-continent
network of 36 offices. 3i leverages this worldwide presence to add value to its
portfolio companies and investment partners. Outside the USA, 3i invests broadly
in private equity and venture capital. In the United States, 3i concentrates on
technology investments in companies with the potential to be leaders in their
markets. Visit 3i and its portfolio at http://www.3ius.com.
About Alliance Technology Ventures
Alliance Technology Ventures is an early-stage venture
capital firm investing in communications technology, Internet infrastructure,
and life science startups. The firm currently has over $250 million under
management from major corporate, pension, and institutional investors, including
the Southern Company, Georgia Power, BellSouth, UPS, the Crossroads Group, Bank
of America, Emory University, Boston University, and Georgia Tech. The fund
began investment operations in 1994, and is focusing primarily on opportunities
in the "Eastern Arc" from Boston to Austin. For more information on
ATV, visit its Web site at www.atv.com.
About New Ventures Group
Lucent's New Ventures Group (http://www.lucent.com/newventures),
located in Murray Hill, NJ, helps to leverage Lucent's annual R&D investment
of more than $3 billion by commercializing some of the most promising Bell Labs
technologies through the use of a venture model. To date, 40 venture capital
firms and 20 strategic investors have invested $300 million in NVG's portfolio
of ventures.
About Lucent Technologies
Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, NJ,
USA, designs and delivers the systems, software and services for next-generation
communications networks for service providers and enterprises. Backed by the
research and development of Bell Labs, Lucent focuses on high-growth areas such
as broadband and mobile Internet infrastructure; communications software;
Web-based enterprise solutions that link private and public networks; and
professional network design and consulting services. For more information on
Lucent Technologies, visit its Web site at www.lucent.com.
About Pacesetter
Pacesetter Capital Group ("PCG") is a
diversified family of private equity funds that manages assets exceeding $200
million. PCG is comprised of one diversified private equity fund and three SBICs.
PCGs fairly stage independent with a preferred investment range of $1 million to
$5 million per transaction. For more information on Pacesetter, visit its Web
site at www.pacesettercapital.com.
About George Barber
Most recently, Mr. Barber served as Vice President and
General Manager of the Worldwide Broadband Access Group business unit of Texas
Instruments and also held a position on the advisory board of TI Ventures. He
joined the group in 1997 and during his tenure he positioned the company for
high growth in the emerging broadband market via a combination of internal
developments and selected acquisitions. From 1995 - 1997, Mr. Barber was vice
president and general manager of the Worldwide Computer and Communications
business unit of Texas Instruments. From 1994 - 1995, Mr. Barber was vice
president of Texas Instruments Asia where he was responsible for the Application
Specific Products based in Taipei, Taiwan. Before going to Taipei, he was the
general manager of the Worldwide ASIC Products business unit, where he
strategically repositioned the operation into a world leader. George Barber
received a BS degree in Mathematics from the University of Dayton. He is
currently a member of the International Engineering Consortium Executive
Committee.
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CONTACT:
SyChip, Inc.
Navi
Miglani, 908/941-1126
nmiglani@sychip.com