Chip Startup Backed by Cisco Systems Lands Eighth Funding Round

Most venture capitalists have arrested reproduction of semi-corporations. However, a chip maker Silicon Valley announced Monday its eighth funding round, with Cisco Systems Inc. reports its role as owner of a longstanding background.

The infusion of $ 37 million is being raised by Aquantia Corp., a company of 10 years, specializing in networking chips. The San Jose, Calif., Start talking about more than a year about the possibility of a rare initial public offering in the area of ​​the chip.

"Our investors have been patient up to this point," said Faraj Aalaei, president and CEO Aquantia. He said he was going public "has always been the vision of the company."

 Investors in the current round include Cisco, Credit Suisse Direct Equity Partners, and Walden Riverwood GLOBALFOUNDRIES Inc., the chip manufacturing plant. The new cycle takes Aquantia total funding to $ 199 million. Before investors including Greylock Partners, New Enterprise Associates and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Many venture capital firms have left the sector due to the rising costs of chip design, and new firms in other sectors tend to produce a rapid return on investment. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP was 12. introductions semiconductor Fellowship in 2014 to -10 of them by Chinese companies - compared with 47 for and 35 Internet service for software vendors.

Aquantia attracted some well-known companies risk, and investments by chipmakers Intel Corp. and Xilinx Inc.

Cisco had already discussed his involvement in Aquantia, if the network equipment company, said last week that it is an investor and Aquantia initial round in 2005. The company also uses the chip in its switching equipment Aquantia said Rob Salvagno , Cisco vice president of business development directed its investment arm.

Cisco, which designs some of its own chips and other purchases from outside suppliers, in about 10 chip companies among its nearly 100 investments, said Mr. Salvagno.

 For Aquantia, he said Cisco was attracted by technology to increase the speed of data movement between servers in a data center tenfold by sending chips of 10 gigabits of data per second on copper wire at distances up to 100 feet. The technology was designed to replace the gigabit links.

"It was an extremely complicated technology and power was very intense," said Mr. Salvagno. "We Aquantia had an approach that has solved the problems."

Aquantia has also developed chips to speed up access points Wi-Fi data transfer for corporate servers, said Mr. Aalaei.

Company chief rival Broadcom Corp. is the largest manufacturer of chips, which recently agreed to be acquired by Avago Technologies Ltd.

In addition to funding, Aquantia said Lip-Bu Tan, a prominent figure in the chip industry, has joined the board. He is the managing director of Cadence Design Systems Inc., which makes software for semiconductor design, as well as the founder and president of the venture capital firm Walden International.

His company is one of the few who did not hesitate to make paris on chips companies. "Semiconductors are a very important base," said Mr. Tan. "I decided to double and triple my investment."