Startup Funding: July 2023


Investors pumped more than $2.8 billion into 123 companies July. It was a particularly strong month for photonics companies, with a photonic integrated circuit foundry raising more than $100 million. Startups this month also are using photonic technology in innovative ways. This includes an all-optical RISC processor, biomarker identification, faster fully homomorphic encryption, and more AI... » read more

Startup Funding: March 2022


Semiconductor manufacturing, test, and inspection equipment startups did well in March. Investors funded a wide variety of equipment companies, including test equipment, materials handling, and those that make parts and components. In the manufacturing space, several companies developing manufacturing execution systems received funding, as well as a startup trying to prevent counterfeit parts f... » read more

October ’19 Startup Funding: Mega Harvest


Seventeen startups took in mega-rounds of $100 million or more during October, with a cumulative total of just over $3.2 billion. Cybersecurity startups continued to be popular with private investors during the month of October, with 15 financing rounds. Twenty automotive and mobility technology firms picked up new investments. Analytics firms, artificial intelligence/machine learning techno... » read more

Week in Review: IoT, Security, Auto


Internet of Things Microsoft has new services and capabilities for Azure-connected Internet of Things devices. There’s a new IoT security tool called Azure Security Center for IoT, which ties in with other tools within Azure IoT Hub. Azure Security Center for IoT uses Azure Security Center, Microsoft’s threat intelligence offering. The new IoT security tool also hooks into Azure Sentinel, ... » read more

March’19 Startup Funding: Money Springs Forth


Another month, another couple of billion-dollar rounds. Singapore-based Grab raised nearly $1.5 billion from the SoftBank Vision Fund, bringing its total private funding to more than $4.5 billion and valuing the company at around $14 billion. Grab has acquired Uber’s ride-hailing business in Southeast Asia and now competes chiefly with Go-Jek of Indonesia in Thailand and other emerging mar... » read more

January ’19 Startup Funding: $100M+ Rounds Abound


Sixteen companies received private funding rounds of $100 million or more during the month of January, with two privately held companies, Infor and Verily Life Sciences, taking in rounds of $1.5 billion and $1 billion, respectively. The market segments represented in the January rounds were varied. Multiple companies using artificial intelligence technology in their offerings and cloud-based... » read more

The Week In Review: Design


Tools & IP Synopsys added machine learning capabilities to its Design Platform. The company highlighted benefits to the PrimeTime signoff tool, which saw 5X faster power recovery in customer designs at leading-edge geometries. Renesas is using the tool, noting a 4X power ECO speed-up. ArterisIP unveiled a standalone last level cache (LLC) for high-performance SoCs. CodaCache can be adde... » read more

The Week in Review: IoT


Products/Services Vancouver, B.C.-based Riot Micro has brought out the RM1000 baseband modem chip for the cellular Internet of Things. The device is said to use Bluetooth Low Energy and Wi-Fi techniques to provide low-power and lower-cost connectivity, like short-range wireless systems. The chip is being marketed to module manufacturers and OEMs developing narrowband IoT and LTE-M products for... » read more

LiDAR Market Continues To Percolate


Light imaging, detection, and ranging (LiDAR) sensors are still dazzling investors and technologists. They are chasing after the technology for automotive applications, while also keeping an eye on LiDAR for drones, industrial automation, mapping, and robotics, among other uses. It’s too early to tell how market share for automotive LiDAR is shaping up, as the bigger vendors are still work... » read more

The LiDAR Gold Rush


Big money is pouring into the LiDAR market, as carmakers gear up for autonomous and assisted driving. LiDAR, along with advanced computer vision and radar sensors, is an essential component for vehicles to maneuver without hitting obstacles or other cars. LiDAR is an acronym for light imaging, detection, and ranging, and until now it has been almost synonymous with next-generation automotive... » read more