Ciranova Raises $4 Million in Latest Round Led by New Investor AsiaTech Management

Ciranova, Inc., an EDA (Electronic Design Automation) start-up developing open and robust layout generation technology for analog and custom integrated circuit design, recently announced that it has closed a third round of financing, raising a total of $4 million. AsiaTech Management led the round and that firm’s founder, Katherine Jen, will join Ciranova’s board of directors. The company’s previous investors, Alloy Ventures and US Venture Partners, also participated in the round, which brings Ciranova’s total funding to $14.75 million since it was founded in 2002.

The capital will be used to further develop and bring to market Ciranova’s innovative suite of products for enabling open and efficient custom chip design. The company plans to introduce new and enhanced products later this year.

“Ciranova’s technology strategy positions it in the right place at the right time, and we are pleased to be able to participate at such an important point in the company’s evolution. Its vision of true interoperability using open standards will fundamentally change the landscape of custom chip design,” said Jen. “Ciranova is well-run and efficient, and the market opportunity for helping to close the productivity gap between the digital and analog design worlds is a compelling one. I look forward to contributing to the growth and development of the company.”

Katherine is a seasoned investment executive and a pioneer in Taiwan’s venture capital industry. As a leader in the growth of Taiwan’s technology industry during the 1980s, she led the $3 billion Taiwan Government Development Fund and was responsible for the investment in many leading technology companies in Taiwan, including TSMC and Mosel-Vitelic. She has served on the board of many leading technology companies including TSMC, Mosel-Vitelic, NetScreen, Protego Networks, NetLogic and Sebring. Her current board seats include: Stonewall Networks, Optimal, Intoto, Mediabolic, and Knowlent.

“We are pleased with the confidence demonstrated by both our original investors, as well as by Katherine and AsiaTech Management. They share with us the vision for how Ciranova can dramatically improve the productivity and efficiency of custom chip design through our open approach to cell generation and migration,” said Dan Rubin, chairman of the Ciranova Board of Directors. “Katherine specifically brings a wealth of business experience, including proven networks in the Greater China region and in the semiconductor manufacturing space, which are two important areas in which Ciranova needs a strong presence. We welcome her to our board and are confident her contributions will be extremely valuable.”

Ciranova™ is an Electronic Design Automation (EDA) startup company, focused on building an open, interoperable, language-based cell generator technology for custom analog and mixed- signal (AMS) integrated circuit design. Ciranova’s technology, which is the only layout generator development environment built from the ground up on the industry standard OpenAccess database from SI2, will bring the integration, productivity and migration benefits of modern language-based design to custom and AMS designers. The company’s first product, PyCell Studio™, is available as a free download from its web site, www.ciranova.com.