CIA invests in RF chip startup

SAN JOSE, Calif. — WiSpry Inc., a developer of programmable radio frequency (RF) semiconductor products for the wireless industry, announced the closing of an additional $7 million of Series B financing.

This brings the total of the Series B round to $18 million. The round was led by present WiSpry investors American River Ventures, Blueprint Ventures, and L-Capital Partners.

The company also announced DoCoMo Capital has made a strategic investment in the company. Participating in the round was another new investor, Arkian, WiSpry's Korean sales representative, as well as existing investors, Hotung Capital Management, In-Q-Tel, and Shepherd Ventures. In-Q-Tel is the venture arm of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

WiSpry (Irvine, Calif.), a fabless RF semiconductor company, is developing programmable RF products for multi-band, multi-standard handsets, including tunable antennas and tunable impedance matching networks. This funding round will support the company's transition from technology development to product qualification.