Clear Logic raises another $10.5 million

Clear Logic raises another $10.5 million
By Crista Souza, EBN
December 19, 2001 (6:17 p.m. EST)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20011219S0050

Although the legality of its technology is being challenged, Clear Logic Inc. continues to win the confidence of investors.

The San Jose company, which offers a process for converting Altera Corp.'s programmable logic devices into low-cost ASICs, today said it has closed a deal for an additional $10.5 million in funding, in the form of debt financing through a private placement.

The debt offering was placed with Clear Logic's existing shareholder base, which includes Integrated Device Technology Inc., J. & W. Seligman and Co., Berg and Berg, Adam Smith and Co. interests, Silicon Valley Equity Funds, and Clear Logic management.

Last year, Clear Logic raised $12 million through equity financing. "We would expect a final, smaller round to be sufficient next year to take us to cash flow breakeven," said chief financial officer, Mike Gumport, in a released statement.

Clear Logic develops and markets pin-compatible ASICs transferred from Alter a-based FPGA designs. The conversion process uses the customer's bitstream to replicate the FPGA's functionality and pin-out in a smaller silicon area.

The bitstream-based conversion technique is the subject of a 1999 lawsuit by Altera, San Jose, which claims Clear Logic is infringing its chip design technology. The suit is still pending a trial date in a San Jose federal court.

Meanwhile, Clear Logic recently received a patent for the technology, which it claims predates Altera's own FPGA-to-ASIC conversion technology.