Agile Analog Names In-Q-Tel as Newest Investor, Demonstrating Endorsement in Company's disruptive analog IP offering

Investment from government-backed In-Q-Tel enables Agile Analog to accelerate the commercialisation of glitch detector IP and other analog security IP blocks

Cambridge, UK – 12 October 2021 – Agile Analog, a supplier of highly configurable process node-agnostic analog IP building blocks, today announced an investment from In-Q-Tel, the U.S. non-profit strategic investor.

In-Q-Tel invests in companies to further its mission to accelerate the development and commercialization of cutting-edge technologies from the start-up community which have the potential to strengthen the security of the US and its allies. Agile Analog’s physical security products play a crucial role in the prevention of hardware attacks which are intended to spoof targets, bypass password protection, clone system IP, or disable target devices.

Smart consumer electronics devices require increasingly sophisticated security protection, as connections to cloud computing or other internet services expose a very large attack surface. Agile Analog’s analog security IP enables chip manufacturers to build in strong protection at the hardware level against a number of physical forms of cyber-attack.

Through its unique COMPOSA technology, Agile Analog has implemented a highly configurable glitch detection IP which is optimized for each application, foundry, and node. Additional security monitoring and security system IP blocks under development will be available by the first half of 2022. In-Q-Tel’s investment will enable Agile Analog to scale up its recruitment of engineering staff and accelerate the pace of security product development.

Nathaniel Puffer, Managing Director London of In-Q-Tel said: ‘Billions of networked devices are proliferating in homes and businesses around the world, providing a target-rich environment for hackers and criminals. This poses a real and present threat to infrastructures on which millions of consumers depend. IQT is excited about Agile Analog’s security IP in the SoCs as a potential mitigation to side-channel attacks and other threats to which consumer devices are exposed.’

Tim Ramsdale, CEO of Agile Analog, said: ‘Investment from the US government-backed In-Q-Tel is a powerful endorsement of Agile Analog’s disruptive approach to the provision of analog IP, including glitch detectors and other forms of analog security IP. It proves the value of Agile Analog’s innovations, and particularly the COMPOSA technology for automating the production of configurable IP optimised for the customer’s application, foundry and node.

‘Agile Analog will also benefit from In-Q-Tel’s partnerships and knowledge in the security field, helping us to engage with those that need robust hardware protection of connected devices.’

About Agile Analog

Analog IP needs to be different for each design. That is why Agile Analog has made a new way of doing things, conceived by some of the best minds in the industry. We provide a wide range of analog IP that is customised to your needs quickly, to a higher quality, and on any semiconductor process. Contact us at www.agileanalog.com to find out more.

About In-Q-Tel

In-Q-Tel is the non-profit strategic investor that government intelligence and national security agencies have relied upon for more than 20 years to anticipate their technology questions and needs and achieve solutions. In-Q-Tel sources, invests in, and accelerates cutting-edge technologies from the commercial start-up community to strengthen the security of the U.S. and its allies. The entirety of IQT – In-Q-Tel and IQT International, IQT Labs, B.Next, and IQT Emerge – powers its government partners ahead of the technology curve. For more information visit www.iqt.org.