Chip Legends

Semiconductor startups are the creative engines which drive the electronics industry because they develop state-of-the-art integrated circuits for next generation products and set the pace for semiconductor innovation. InsideChips is for entrepreneurs, investors, electronics executives, EDA tools marketers,  silicon foundry sales executives, service providers and for executives or firms who wish to do deals with chip startups.

Venture Capitalists obtain a quick-start in sourcing deals and doing due-diligence. Semiconductor startup founders and management can access resources and consultative reports to get their company on a faster track and avoid pitfalls. Companies selling services and products (EDA tools, foundry, PR, rep/distribution, equipment) to semiconductor startups benefit from the extensive database of profiles and follow-up coverage of emerging chip ventures -- enabling them to maximize their business development efforts.  Private investors benefit from an industry insider's stock market viewpoints and analysis of public companies.

Members-only premium content is delivered in three channels oriented to industry professionals and investors:

The "Chip Legends" project summarizes the pursuits of captains of the silicon industry, as well as other luminaries, gurus and personalities who were instrumental in shaping the early days of the semiconductor industry in Silicon Valley and beyond. Click on the picture for additional historical information. While you are browsing, take InsideChips' semiconductor Trivia Quiz.

DOWNLOAD sample premium content pages.

Linear Signal Linear Signal is an early-stage fabless semiconductor startup pioneering an ultra low-cost beamforming RFIC technology. The roots of the company go back to September 2007 when IPTV veterans began exploring business opportunities with a focus on aiding large edge IP network operators, such as apartment buildings, hospitals and motels effectively become their own cable/telecom providers. . . . Continue SiTune SiTune, a fabless chip startup based in Silicon Valley, bills itself as the "All in-one Solution for Mobile Internet and Entertainment." Founded in September 2006, the company's stated goal is to is to become . . . Continue Xelerated AB Swedish fabless startup Xelerated AB (formerly Xelerated Packet Devices AB) is among the roster of surviving startups in the once-crowded network processor space. Founded in August 2000, the company began focusing on early deployment of 40-Gbps solutions for manufacturers of high-capacity edge and core networking equipment. . . . Continue Unity Semiconductor Unity Semiconductor appeared on the Silicon Valley startup scene in 2002 with the mission to develop the smallest die-size and the lowest manufacturing cost per bit for its initial targeted market -- NAND Flash, one of the largest and most important segments of the semiconductor industry today. . . . Continue

SiBEAM Adds to Money Chest SiBEAM, a pioneer of millimeter wave (mmWave) solutions and developer of high-speed wireless communications platforms, closed its D-round funding of $36.5 million. . . . Continue Quantenna Reloads Cash Kitty to Ramp Production Quantenna Communications, a supplier of Wi-Fi networking for whole-home entertainment,has raised $15 million Series D round of financing from its current investors Grazia Equity, Sequoia Capital, Sigma Partners, Southern Cross, Swisscom, and Venrock Associates. To date, the startup has raised . . . Continue SiPort Recruits CEO as the Startup Moves on After Homicide Tragedy SiPort, a supplier of integrated circuit platform solutions for digital terrestrial broadcast receivers, brought in David Rolston as CEO and has been on the job for the past month. . . . Continue New CEO to Take Reins fo Wi-Fi PAN Startup Ozmo Devices, a provider of low-power Wi-Fi Personal Area Network (Wi-Fi PAN) solutions, has brought in semiconductor industry veteran Bill McLean to become the company's CEO. . . . Continue IDT Expands Market With Acquisition IDT® (Integrated Device Technology; NASDAQ: IDTI), a provider of mixed signal semiconductor solutions that enrich the digital media experience, has acquired Mobius Microsystems, the leader in precision all-silicon oscillator technology. . . . Continue Intel Capital Ups Asian Investments Looks like Intel's venture funding arm, Intel Capital, is looking more to Asia to juice up its portfolio of investments than ever before.  Touting its know-how to empower global connecti . . . Continue Virage Logic Sets Up Dutch R&D Unit Virage Logic (NASDAQ:VIRL) established a Dutch corporation (B.V.) in conjunction with its new research and R&D center in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. . . . Continue Presto Engineering Taps Funding Presto Engineering, a Silicon Valley-based semiconductor lab services company, received $2 million in funding to support its expansion and future growth in Europe and improves the company's economies of scale with its lab hubs. . . . Continue Discera Adds Sales Veep, Racks Up Fourth Funding Round Discera, a pioneer in MEMS based technology for the clock and timing markets, completed its Series D financing, having raised $11 million. . . . Continue LANTIQ Nails Down Second Product Acquisition LANTIQ, the German company formed from Infineon's sale of its Wireline Communications Division to Golden Gate Capital, continues its acquisitive ways with the most recent purchase of WLAN related assets and intellectual IP from . . . Continue Icera Reportedly Considering IPO Bristol, UK-based startup, Icera, is looking at making an IPO filing in the UK, according to reports circulating in Europe. . . . Continue TranSwitch Receives Funding Commitment, Debuts Latest HDMI Technology at CES TranSwitch® (NASDAQ: TXCC), a leading provider of semiconductor solutions for the converging data, video and voice wireline and wireless networks, has entered into a common stock purchase agreement wi . . . Continue

Semiconductor Innovation in an Investment Constrained Economy The current innovation climate in the semiconductor industry is alive and well but entrepreneurs have to adjust to the realities of the current economic situation and investment trends. The world's governmental economic development agencies have always looked at Silicon Valley with envy and paid big money to try to find the key which would unlock the secrets . . . Continue Managing the Startup Marcom Program From a management viewpoint, one of the biggest dilemmas of startup technology-based companies, which are relatively small and with limited resources, is how to get their names spread throughout the electronics community. Especially in the case of semiconductor startups with limited budgets, to do so sometimes requires guerrilla tactics. But one of the pitfalls for engineers who start up a company is the notion that if they build a better mousetrap, the world will come and beat down their door to buy their product or service. . . . Continue