MIPS Returns to Silicon Valley To Drive Next Generation of Intelligent Applications

US investors and industry veterans bring deep semiconductor expertise to renowned and revered technology company.

Santa Clara, Calif. – January 10, 2018 – MIPS, provider of the widely used MIPS processor architecture and IP cores, announced it has returned to Silicon Valley as an independent company focused on processor innovations for a new generation of intelligent, connected platforms. With shipments in the billions of units across the globe, MIPS CPUs are found in a broad range of applications, including leading positions in set-top boxes and DTV, networking switches and routers, robotics, IoT, and are gaining strong momentum in LTE modems. The MIPS architecture is also used in most of today’s Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and is designed into emerging autonomous vehicles.

MIPS continues its commitment to servicing the industry as a soft-IP supplier with a compelling portfolio of processor cores. MIPS leverages its distinct portfolio to offer hardware multi-threading for ultimate compute efficiency, hardware backed virtualization for software isolation, and policy management combined with functional safety features that are required to support mission critical high assurance safety standards. This foundation complements the company’s investments in intelligent applications and enables MIPS to deliver additional value to existing and new customers.

Tallwood Venture Capital (Tallwood), a US venture capital firm with deep semiconductor expertise and a highly successful investment track record, led the acquisition of MIPS from Imagination Technologies. Tallwood is joined by Paxion Capital Partners (Paxion) that focuses on high-growth technology and technology-related companies in need of capital and expertise to scale on a global basis.

“MIPS’ foundational architecture, cores, and IP have enormous potential and align with the innovative technologies that Tallwood seeks in its investments,” said Dado Banatao, Tallwood’s Managing Partner and Chairman of the MIPS Board of Directors. “As the first commercially available RISC architecture, MIPS played a key role in making computing ubiquitous, and in the development of the fabless semiconductor model. We are excited to bring MIPS back to its roots in Silicon Valley and are committed to driving the company forward as it continues to play a key role in the next era of computing.”

Banatao co-founded and is an early investor in many Silicon Valley start-ups that pioneered ground-breaking technologies in the semiconductor industry that continue to be driving technologies in computing and communication applications today, such as PC graphics acceleration architectures, commercial GPS, and networking infrastructure for data center and the cloud.

Since its acquisition by Tallwood and return to Silicon Valley, MIPS has attracted a preeminent team of investors and advisors who are key players in the development and evolution of the semiconductor industry in the US. In addition to Dado Banatao, Nicholas Brathwaite, founding partner of Riverwood Capital and WRV Capital, will join the board of directors representing Paxion. John Hennessy, former president of Stanford University and an original co-founder of MIPS Computer Systems in 1984, Pradeep Sindhu, Founder and Chief Scientist of Juniper Networks, and Steve Fu, former Chief Strategy Officer of Fairchild Semiconductors, will all serve on MIPS’ Technical Advisory Board.

“With the emergence of AI in applications that will touch all of our lives in ways we can’t yet begin to fathom, this is an incredibly exciting time to see MIPS position themselves in the epicenter of the AI universe,” said Hennessy. “Because of its initial simplicity, efficiency, and extensibility, the MIPS architecture has been able to continuously evolve over the years to incorporate new architectural concepts, providing advantages for an ever-changing range of applications. I believe AI will be no exception. Under Dado’s stewardship, MIPS can grow to become the processing architecture of choice for a new generation of intelligent applications.”

About MIPS

MIPS is a leading provider of processor architectures and IP cores that drive some of the world’s most popular products. With the streamlined MIPS RISC architecture and CPU cores, customers can build highly efficient, scalable, and trusted products across a wide range of performance points – from the IoT edge to high-end networking equipment, and everything in between. Originally founded in 1984 as MIPS Computer Systems Inc. by researchers from Stanford University, MIPS today is an independent company focused on processing innovations for a new generation of intelligent, connected devices. MIPS designs have shipped in billions of units across the globe and have even reached the outer edges of our solar system. The company is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., with offices worldwide. www.mips.com

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