Silicon Clocks Completes $10.3M Series C Financing Led By Silicon Labs and Premier Venture Firms

FREMONT, Calif. Silicon Clocks, a leader in integrated timing solutions for electronic systems, today announced the completion of a $10.3M Series C financing to enable the company to ramp into full production the J-Series family of low jitter timing products, as well as transition its cutting edge CMEMSTM (Standard CMOS + MEMS) process technology into commercial products. All of the company’s previous investors participated in the financing, including Tallwood Venture Capital, Charles River Ventures, Formative Ventures and Lux Capital. The round also included Austin-based Silicon Labs (NASDAQ: SLAB – News), a leader in mixed-signal innovation in CMOS.

Historically, MEMS technology has required boutique processing and complicated packaging strategies. Silicon Clocks’ innovative CMEMS™ technology enables developers to simultaneously integrate many mechanical devices directly on top of CMOS wafers using more standardized semiconductor fabrication techniques. This enabling technology allows the addition of timing, sensing and optical capability to a single monolithic piece of silicon.

“We believe the promise of MEMS technology has yet to be fulfilled, and Silicon Clocks’ unique CMEMS™ approach is very compelling, particularly as an enabler of highly integrated timing and sensor products,” said Mike Petrowski, timing product line director of Silicon Labs.

“We’re incredibly proud to have Silicon Labs join our existing venture investors,” said Didier Lacroix, CEO of Silicon Clocks. “This recent financing round is an endorsement of the approach that we’ve taken to put CMEMS™ into high volume, high performance, value-add integrated timing products.”

“For Silicon Clocks to raise a round of this quality, during this economic climate, speaks volumes about the potential of their technology as it approaches mass production,” said Luis Arzubi, General Partner of Tallwood Venture Capital. “We are especially pleased to bring Silicon Labs into the investor syndicate, given their history of successfully bringing innovative mixed-signal products in standard CMOS to market.”

About Silicon Clocks

Silicon Clocks, a fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Silicon Valley, develops best-in-class integrated timing products based on its modular CMEMSTM (Standard CMOS + MEMS) process technology platform.

Serving a range of electronic systems including high speed serial data, wireless communications and consumer products, Silicon Clocks delivers improvements in performance, reliability and flexibility combined with reductions in power, size, and part count to provide significant system cost savings. For more information, visit www.siliconclocks.com.

About Silicon Labs

Silicon Laboratories is an industry leader in the innovation of high-performance, analog-intensive, mixed-signal ICs. Developed by a world-class engineering team with unsurpassed expertise in mixed-signal design, Silicon Labs’ diverse portfolio of highly-integrated, easy-to-use products offers customers significant advantages in performance, size and power consumption. These patented solutions serve a broad set of markets and applications including consumer, communications, computing, industrial and automotive.

Headquartered in Austin, TX, Silicon Labs is a global enterprise with operations, sales and design activities worldwide. The company is committed to contributing to our customers’ success by recruiting the highest quality talent to create industry-changing innovations. For more information about Silicon Labs, please visit www.silabs.com.

About Tallwood Venture Capital

Tallwood Venture Capital invests exclusively in semiconductor and semiconductor-related technologies and products – and in the passionate entrepreneurs and compelling ideas that promise to create a significant impact on the semiconductor market. By offering deep semiconductor knowledge, direct operating experience and a high degree of availability, Tallwood builds close, active working relationships with its portfolio companies. Tallwood recognizes that semiconductor investments offer unique challenges – challenges that require patience and the support of partners with extensive semiconductor expertise and a commitment to building successful, enduring companies. Tallwood is committed to assisting its entrepreneurs every step of the way, so they can lead their companies for the long term – an approach the firm believes creates stronger, more successful businesses. For more information, visit www.tallwoodvc.com.

About Charles River Ventures

Founded in 1970, Charles River Ventures (CRV) is one of the oldest and most successful venture capital firms, with more than 30 years of experience in investing in great entrepreneurs and building great companies. CRV’s approach to investing synthesizes the realities of start-up creation with the dynamics of the equity financing markets in a true value-added approach. CRV takes a value-add approach to early-stage investing, providing entrepreneurs with access to more than just financial backing. Through combined access to financial capital, the right people and the right resources, CRV helps talented entrepreneurs turn innovative ideas into the category-leading companies. For more information, visit www.crv.com.

About Formative Ventures

Founded in 2000 and based in Menlo Park, Calif., Formative Ventures is a leading early-stage venture capital firm that invests in the industry’s next-generation emerging technologies leaders in areas such as communications, wireless and next-generation Internet solutions. The founders of Formative believe that in today’s tough environment, technology start-ups are looking for investors with “real-world” start-up experience, and in very specific areas such as sales and marketing processes, scaling an organization for revenue or launching a product line. Formative’s partners are experienced, personable executives who have the management depth, industry domain knowledge and a rich network of contacts to help early-stage companies get the market traction they need to become industry leaders. For more information, visit www.formative.com.

About Lux Capital

Lux Capital Management is a research-driven investment firm focused on founding, seed and early stage investments in the physical and life sciences. Lux takes an active role in helping entrepreneurs build successful businesses in high growth sectors. Our investment team has built over 20 companies from scratch. Lux’s investment strategy ensures our portfolio companies are better connected, have deeper insight, and command industry leadership faster than their competitors. For more information, vi
sit www.luxcapital.com.

Source: Silicon Clocks