Camera SLVS-EC v.2.0 5.0Gbps / MIPI D-PHY v2-1 4.5Gbps combo Receiver 4-Lane
Venture capital is losing patience with the fabless
(09/09/2008 7:01 AM EDT)
PARIS — Just as Europe was starting to get the hang of entrepreneurial risk-taking with a handful of promising chip startups the prospects for exits through initial public offerings seem to have dried up. It is the IPOs that give the venture capital companies the big home runs.
A turning away from fabless has been confirmed by one transatlantic venture capital firm that said it plans to invest most of its funds in Internet companies rather than fabless chip companies. This raises questions as to how the next set of chip company startups will be funded.
Late in July, the partners of Partech International Inc. (San Francisco, Calif.) announced the buyout of Partech International Europe, the European arm of the venture capital firm. The buyout was done by the European managing partners Philippe Collombel and Jean-Marc Patouillaud.
Patouillaud, now managing partner, told EE Times that Partech's strategy is to invest mainly in Internet companies with only a minority of funds going towards electronics component companies. Partech's funds amount to $700 million and its European portfolio companies include DiBcom SA, Acco Semiconductor SA, Netsize SA, Alchimer SA, RealEyes3D SA and Dailymotion SA.
"Our goal line is quite clear," commented Patouillaud. "It is all and only about information technologies. Today, if I told you that we want to bet the majority of our capital on semiconductor component niches, you would probably be surprised."
E-mail This Article | Printer-Friendly Page |
Related News
- Imagination Technologies and BAIC Capital announce automotive joint venture
- NXP and Chinese Private Equity firm JianGuang Asset Management to Establish Semiconductor Joint Venture
- Chips Are Down for VCs, Wall Street
- Intrinsic-ID Closes New Round of Financing with Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH and Prime Ventures
- Sidense Raises Additional $5.6M Venture Capital
Breaking News
- Keysight, Synopsys, and Ansys Deliver Radio Frequency Design Migration Flow to TSMC's N6RF+ Process Node
- Siemens collaborates with TSMC on design tool certifications for the foundry's newest processes and other enablement milestones
- Leveraging Cryogenics and Photonics for Quantum Computing
- Kalray Joins Arm Total Design, Extending Collaboration with Arm on Accelerated AI Processing
- Credo at TSMC 2024 North America Technology Symposium
Most Popular
- Huawei Mate 60 Pro processor made on SMIC 7nm N+2 process
- Silicon Creations Reaches Milestone of 10 Million Wafers in Production with TSMC
- GUC provides 3DIC ASIC total service package to AI/HPC/Networking customers
- Analog Bits to Demonstrate Numerous Test Chips Including Portfolio of Power Management and Embedded Clocking and High Accuracy Sensor IP in TSMC N3P Process at TSMC 2024 North America Technology Symposium
- Alphawave Semi: FY 2023 and 2024 YTD Trading Update and Notice of Results