RF chip start-up raises $10 million in Series C

LONDON — Programmable radio frequency (RF) chip specialist WiSpry Inc. (Irvine, Calif.) has raised an additional $10 million in a Series C financing round, bringing the total invested in the start-up to $28 million.

The round was led by new investor Paladin Capital Group, which is also gaining a seat on WiSpry's board of directors, as well as existing investors L-Capital Partners and Blue Print Ventures.

A new strategic investor, MuRata Manufacturing Co., Ltd., and additional existing investors American River Ventures, In-Q-Tel, Tech Coast Angels and Shepherd Ventures also participated.

A second close of the Series C, anticipated to be at least $5 million, is expected to be completed this summer.

WiSpry is developing programmable RF products for multi-band, multi-standard handsets, including tunable antennas and tunable impedance matching networks using CMOS processes.

The company said the additional funds will help expand its operations, engineering and applications support structure as it begins production shipments to leading wireless handset OEMs and ODMs this summer.

"As the demand for multi-band 3G and 4G wireless handsets continue to grow, the need for digitally programmable RF becomes even greater. The capability we are bringing to market enables cost-effective solutions that boost performance for both carriers and handset manufacturers," said Russ Garcia, WiSpry's CEO.