Participated · Equity · Feb 2021

Pliops develops hardware-accelerated "data processors" designed to boost performance of databases and other applications that run on flash memory. Its processor delivers drive fail protection, in-line compression that maps variable-sized compressed objects to reduce wasted space, and a hardware-accelerated key-value storage engine. The company says its hardware frees CPUs from computationally intensive storage tasks, improving performance, reliability and scalability for data-intensive workloads. Pliops’ processor became commercially available last July and the team is focusing on accelerating data ingest for machine learning use cases. The startup reports deployments and pilots with unnamed customers including fintechs, medium-sized communication service providers, data center operators and government labs. Financially, Pliops closed a $100M Series D and has raised more than $200M in total capital to date, funds it plans to use to advance its hardware and software roadmap, broaden partner footprints and expand international headcount. Pliops builds a hardware-enabled storage engine (a storage processor) delivered as a PCIe card or cloud service that aims to unlock the full potential of SSD storage by improving cost, performance and endurance. Its platform combines patented data structures and algorithms to reduce data amplification and deliver up to 100x faster data access with lower computational load and power consumption. Pliops' storage processors are shipping to select customers and the company says it is engaged with major cloud providers, storage innovators and enterprise users as customers and partners. The company plans to scale its technology into new use cases, expand its product line, deliver broad availability of the storage processor, and offer the solution in multiple forms (on premises, cloud, integrated with customer products, or as an ASIC). Pliops also intends to double the size of the company by the end of 2021 and has expanded its executive team and resources to support that growth. The most recent financing positions the company to bring its storage processor to more customers and use cases. Pliops develops a storage processor product intended to enable cloud databases and enterprise data centers to access data faster while reducing compute load, network traffic and power consumption. Its processor targets scalability challenges for cloud storage and the growing data needs of AI and ML, and integrates via standard APIs with major cloud databases such as MySQL and Cassandra. The offering is positioned for use across big data, software-defined storage, hyperconverged infrastructure, HPC, telco, edge and all-flash array architectures. The company was founded in 2017 by flash storage industry veterans from Samsung, M-Systems and XtremIO and holds eight core patents pending. Pliops plans to accelerate development of its storage processor technology and expand teams in the US, Israel and China, with a product debut planned for mid-2019. Leadership includes CEO Uri Beitler and President/chief business officer Steve Fingerhut, who will lead global expansion.

Participated · Series A · Jan 2018

NGCodec develops algorithms, silicon logic and FPGA implementations for cloud video processing, targeting next‑generation real-time media experiences. The company announced broadcast‑quality H.265/HEVC for real‑time streaming in the Amazon AWS Marketplace and ultra‑low‑latency H.265/HEVC for interactive VR and MR. Leadership includes Oliver Gunasekara (CEO and Co‑Founder) and Pavel Novotny (CTO and VP of Algorithms). NGCodec closed an $8M Series A and has raised $15.9M to date. The company intends to use the new funds to accelerate technology development. Product focus and marketplace availability indicate a go‑to‑market push toward cloud streaming and interactive applications.

Led · Equity · Sep 2017

Efinix develops a Quantum programmable technology and programmable product platforms targeting ASIC, ASSP and FPGA segments. Its products are designed for high-volume, low-power, small form-factor applications in custom logic, compute acceleration and deep learning. The company is led by co-founder, CEO and president Sammy Cheung. Efinix completed a $9.5M funding round to support its growth. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate market deployment of its Quantum programmable technology with a focus on deep learning and compute acceleration. Efinix is based in Santa Clara, California.

Participated · Series D · Jul 2014

XMOS develops silicon and software that combine voice-processing, edge-AI and IoT to deliver far-field voice interfaces, including its XVF3510 2-mic voice interface. The company has a ten-year pedigree in deep technology solutions for consumer devices and says its unique silicon architecture and differentiated software enable class-leading voice-enabled solutions. The new funding will support global growth, including expansion of its Hong Kong office and additional hiring. XMOS plans to accelerate development of an AIoT solution portfolio targeting smart homes, smart cities and smart factories. The company is backed by established high-tech venture capital investors and positions itself at the intersection of voice-processing, edge-AI and the IoT. The financing comprises equity funding alongside a venture debt facility from Harbert European Growth Capital. XMOS is a supplier of voice and audio solutions that combines voice processing, biometrics and artificial intelligence for the consumer electronics market. The company offers xCORE real-time, flexible 32-bit multicore microcontrollers and audio processors along with verified software libraries. It provides complete reference software solutions, the xTIMEcomposer Studio development tools for real-time performance and timing validation, and a range of development boards to test embedded system concepts. XMOS is led by President and CEO Mark Lippett. The company raised $15M in a Series E and intends to use the funds for product development plans. XMOS is based in Bristol, UK. XMOS is a fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Bristol, UK, with an additional development center in Chennai, India. It develops xCORE multicore microcontrollers and the xTIMEcomposer Studio development system, enabling engineers to implement exact hardware systems in software. Its multicore controllers target demanding embedded applications across audio, automotive, consumer, industrial, and robotics products. The company positions itself as a leader in intelligent multicore microcontrollers and emphasizes strategic industry partnerships. XMOS will use new funding to extend market leadership by expanding customer support and accelerating new product development. It recently completed a $26.2M Series D financing that strengthens its financial position. XMOS develops the xCORE family of multicore microcontrollers and associated xSOFTip software IP and xTIMEcomposer Studio development tools for demanding embedded applications in audio, automotive, consumer and industrial markets. The company recently launched the xCORE-XA extended architecture product family and has secured significant design wins, including at Sony and other major companies. XMOS reports revenue growth averaging 30% quarter-on-quarter, which the company cites as driving its expansion plans. To support growth it plans to expand globally with a support center in Shenzhen, a sales office in Japan, increased FAE and a sales/support office in Germany, and further resource expansion in North America. XMOS expects its engineering headcount at its Bristol, UK and Chennai, India development centers to double through 2014 and will recruit additional systems, silicon, and software engineers. The company plans to continue expanding its portfolio of software IP components alongside these hires.

Led · Series G · Mar 2014

Aquantia develops high-speed connectivity solutions for data centers, enterprise and WLAN applications, including its AQrate technology that can increase network speeds to 5 Gbps on existing Cat 5e/Cat 6 cables up to 100m. The AQrate products were first sampled in late 2013 and are currently in mass production. The company is led by president and CEO Faraj Aalaei. Aquantia employs over 160 people. It has raised a total of $199m to date. The company stated it will use the new funds to continue to expand operations. Aquantia is a market leader in high-speed Ethernet connectivity solutions serving cloud, data center, mobile and enterprise customers. Its core products are 10Gigabit Ethernet ICs, and the company recently announced a low-power, 28nm generation of 10GBASE-T silicon aimed at expanding adoption among cloud service providers and corporate data centers. Aquantia positions 10GBASE-T as the fastest-growing 10GE connectivity solution and expects the technology to become dominant in switches and servers. The company emphasizes delivering versatile, high-performance connectivity while lowering total cost of ownership for OEM customers. Management highlights strong market tailwinds from exploding wireless traffic and has received industry recognition including the GSA Most Respected Private Company Award and Cisco’s New Emerging Technology Supplier Award. Aquantia is venture-backed and located in Milpitas, California, and has completed recent financing to support business expansion. Aquantia designs 10GBASE‑T PHY chipsets and 10Gigabit Ethernet ICs used in cloud and large-scale data center servers and switches. The company launched an industry-leading 40nm 10GBASE‑T PHY chipset in 2011 and targets LAN‑on‑Motherboard (LOM) platforms. Aquantia cites accelerating demand following Intel’s Romley platform introduction and market growth projections from Crehan Research. It is venture-backed and described as having strong tier‑1 VC and strategic investor support. Aquantia is headquartered in Silicon Valley (Milpitas, Calif.) and plans to establish a new design center in Russia to support chip design, software development, and product testing. The company positions its products as delivering high performance and lower total cost of ownership for OEM customers. Aquantia designs silicon solutions based on 10GBASE-T technology that enable storage and networking applications for cloud computing and data center deployments. Its core product highlighted in the article is a 40nm 10GBASE-T PHY solution. The company announced demand for that 40nm PHY as the reason for its recent financing. To meet that demand it raised capital in a Series E round. The articles describe Aquantia primarily as a supplier of connectivity and PHY silicon rather than an end-user service provider. No revenue or user metrics were disclosed in the article. Aquantia makes 10GBASE-T PHY chips intended to accelerate Ethernet from 1Gbps to 10Gbps in corporate data centers, with the goal of moving PHY functionality onto server motherboards. The company is ramping a new generation of chips to be built on a 40nm process by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which it says will cut power consumption and cost versus prior generations. Aquantia shipped a 90nm generation in 2008 and plans to ship the 40nm parts in 2010; the 40nm design can create a quad chip with up to 48 ports consuming about 3.5 watts per port. The market for these chips was described as still under a million chips per year, with chips selling for "tens of dollars," while analysts projected a potential of millions of ports by 2012. The company competes with Solarflare, Teranetics, Broadcom and Marvell and aims to leapfrog generations to drive down costs and power. Aquantia has 60 employees and has said the latest round was oversubscribed as it seeks to reach profitability.