Tiempo, IP company with breakthrough ultra-low power asynchronous design technology, raises 5 million Euros ($7 million) in Series B funding

Grenoble, France – June 26, 2009 –   Tiempo, located in Montbonnot, France, today announced it has closed a 5 million Euros Series B financing round with two new investors, Viveris Management and Oddo Private Equity. Previous Series A investors, i.e. EmerTec Gestion, Schneider Electric Ventures, INPG Entreprise SA and Alma Capital Finances, also participated to this round.

Tiempo develops and markets core IPs, such as microcontroller and crypto-processor cores, which are designed in an innovative asynchronous and delay-insensitive technology. These cores have outstanding ultra-low power characteristics (energy, current peaks and noise), can operate at ultra-low and variable voltage levels, are very robust against PVT variations and highly secured against hardware attacks. Targeted applications are ultra-low power chips for embedded electronics and/or secured devices.

«Tiempo products and technology are the next breakthrough in the design of low-power chips» said Djamel Chekroun, Investment Director at Viveris Management. «The energetic performances of Tiempo latest microcontroller let us foresee numerous business opportunities on the very dynamic market of green electronics.»

Tiempo silicon-proven 16-bit microcontroller core (TAM16), released end of 2008, consumes indeed down to 37 µA per MIPS when operating at 0.7 V (47 µA at 1.2 V), including leakage current of used CMOS 130 nm general-purpose process. TAM16 just received the prestigious “Electron d’Or” award from the “Electronique” magazine, in the “Intellectual Property” category.

«We have been convinced by Tiempo strategy to market a portfolio of ultra-low power IPs designed in a very innovative technology and simultaneously offer the EDA tool that enables the easy adoption of this technology by any chip company» said Laurent Dumas-Crouzillac, Investment Leader at Oddo Private Equity.

To allow its customers to easily adopt its innovative asynchronous design technology, Tiempo developed the first asynchronous synthesis tool (ACC) that uses a standard hardware description language. Indeed, ACC takes as input a description written in the IEEE Standard 1800-2005 SystemVerilog language and generates as output a Verilog gate-level netlist. This unique feature allows ACC to be inserted in any industry-standard design flow.

«The completion of this second financing round is an important milestone in Tiempo roadmap as it allows the company to complete its product development plan – IPs and synthesis tool – and to start the deployment of its sales and support channels worldwide» said Serge Maginot, CEO of Tiempo.

Tiempo will demonstrate both ACC design flow and TAM16 performances on its booth (#4104) at the 46th DAC Conference & Exhibition, July 27-30, 2009, in San Francisco, California.

About Tiempo:

Tiempo, located in Montbonnot, France, develops and commercializes core IPs for the design of innovative integrated circuits that are ultra-low power, ultra-low noise, ultra-low voltage, robust versus PVT variations and secured. Tiempo IP portfolio includes ultra-low power and secured asynchronous cores of microcontrollers, microprocessors and crypto-processors, and is supported by an automated synthesis tool using standard input language. Targeted applications are ultra-low power chips for embedded electronics and/or secured devices, e.g. power management chips, sensor networks, metering devices, RFID, smartcards, electronics for the automotive, medical devices, and mobiles for consumer markets. www.tiempo-ic.com

About Viveris Management:

Viveris Management is a well-established third-party management company specialized in Private Equity financing of unlisted SMEs. Launched in 2000, it manages M€ 450 in assets with a current investment portfolio of 130 companies and an investment team of 29 professionals. Viveris Management has developed an expertise focused on financial innovation and asset diversification into market niches such as Emerging Private Equity, Real Estate, and renewable energies. Investments decisions target unlisted SMEs typically at early stage (minority shares, first or second round of financing) and leading projects innovation to be followed up all along their development. Venture Capital funds under management currently account for M€ 192 in assets, 40 portfolio companies, and 4 to 6 new deals per year. They raised M€ 15 in assets in 2008. www.viverismanagement.com

About Oddo Private Equity:

Oddo Private Equity is the Private Equity affiliate of Oddo & Cie that operates two major business lines: Investment Banking and Asset Management. Oddo & Cie has developed a Private Equity activity in 2006 with the aim to become a major capital investment player in growth and venture capital investments. As of today, the assets under management total 150M€. The team, composed of 6 professionals, has invested in fifteen companies, mostly family businesses, the core of the Oddo Group's expertise. www.oddoam.fr