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Dr DSP
I'm still looking for the application that MUST use Tabula. Anyone found an ...
elPresidente
LOL - Tabula IS the reason VCs are shying away from funding semiconductor ...
PLD startup Tabula snags $108M in funding
Dylan McGrath
3/27/2011 11:37 PM EDT
SAN FRANCISCO—Programmable logic startup Tabula Inc. is set to announce Monday (March 28) that it has secured $108 million in funding from seven venture capital firms, one of the largest rounds of funding announced by a private semiconductor company ever.
Tabula was founded in 2003 by Steve Teig, an EDA pioneer and former chief technology officer at Cadence Design Systems Inc. The company made waves last year when it emerged from stealth mode to describe its three-dimensional programmable logic architecture, which the company says will enable a new class of devices, 3PLDs, that offer the capability of an ASIC, ease of use of an FPGA and price points suitable for volume production. Last March the company announced its 40-nm ABAX family of chips, which went into mass production late last year.
According to the Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA), the $108 million funding round is among the largest awarded to a private chip company over the past decade. In 2006, Cortina Systems Inc. announced it raised $132 million, $115 million of which went to fund the purchase of Intel Corp.'s optical-networking components business. Other rounds of funding for semiconductor industry companies of $100 million or more since 2000 include Accelerant Networks ($104 million) in 2001 and Plastic Logic in 2007, according to GSA.
Dennis Segers, Tabula's CEO, noted that Tabula's funding round bucks the general trend that has seen venture capital firms shy away from investing in semiconductor companies. "What I think they saw in Tabula is something that stood well beyond the pack in terms of the innovation the company is bringing to market," Segers said.
The financing round was led by Crosslink Capital and DAG Ventures, Tabula said. Existing investors Balderton Capital, Benchmark Capital, Greylock Partners, Integral Capital, and NEA also participated in the round, the company said.
Segers said Tabula would use the additional funding to accelerate production of the ABAX family, expand customer and partner support infrastructures and to develop its next products. He said the company has been hard at work on its next-generation technology for some time and is supporting parallel development efforts. "You can't afford to be a one trick pony," said Segers, a long-time executive and later board member at programmable logic market leader Xilinx Inc.
Segers said Tabula believes that the series D funding round would take Tabula to profitability. The company last year generated revenue for the first time, seven years after its founding.
Tabula is one of several programmable logic startups to appear in recent years that were considered promising. Some have since failed. Programmable logic startups have historically faced an uphill climb--more than 50 companies have attempted to play in the space since it was established in the early 80s, most of which failed. Since the late 1980s the market has been dominated by two suppliers—Xilinx and Altera Corp.
Segers said that over the past year Tabula has been gradually adding employees. But Tabula doesn't plan to use its new financing to go on a hiring spree. "We consider the company close to being fully staffed at this point," he said.
Tabula was founded in 2003 by Steve Teig, an EDA pioneer and former chief technology officer at Cadence Design Systems Inc. The company made waves last year when it emerged from stealth mode to describe its three-dimensional programmable logic architecture, which the company says will enable a new class of devices, 3PLDs, that offer the capability of an ASIC, ease of use of an FPGA and price points suitable for volume production. Last March the company announced its 40-nm ABAX family of chips, which went into mass production late last year.
According to the Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA), the $108 million funding round is among the largest awarded to a private chip company over the past decade. In 2006, Cortina Systems Inc. announced it raised $132 million, $115 million of which went to fund the purchase of Intel Corp.'s optical-networking components business. Other rounds of funding for semiconductor industry companies of $100 million or more since 2000 include Accelerant Networks ($104 million) in 2001 and Plastic Logic in 2007, according to GSA.
Dennis Segers, Tabula's CEO, noted that Tabula's funding round bucks the general trend that has seen venture capital firms shy away from investing in semiconductor companies. "What I think they saw in Tabula is something that stood well beyond the pack in terms of the innovation the company is bringing to market," Segers said. The financing round was led by Crosslink Capital and DAG Ventures, Tabula said. Existing investors Balderton Capital, Benchmark Capital, Greylock Partners, Integral Capital, and NEA also participated in the round, the company said.
Segers said Tabula would use the additional funding to accelerate production of the ABAX family, expand customer and partner support infrastructures and to develop its next products. He said the company has been hard at work on its next-generation technology for some time and is supporting parallel development efforts. "You can't afford to be a one trick pony," said Segers, a long-time executive and later board member at programmable logic market leader Xilinx Inc.
Segers said Tabula believes that the series D funding round would take Tabula to profitability. The company last year generated revenue for the first time, seven years after its founding.
Tabula is one of several programmable logic startups to appear in recent years that were considered promising. Some have since failed. Programmable logic startups have historically faced an uphill climb--more than 50 companies have attempted to play in the space since it was established in the early 80s, most of which failed. Since the late 1980s the market has been dominated by two suppliers—Xilinx and Altera Corp.
Segers said that over the past year Tabula has been gradually adding employees. But Tabula doesn't plan to use its new financing to go on a hiring spree. "We consider the company close to being fully staffed at this point," he said.
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elPresidente
3/28/2011 3:19 PM EDT
LOL - Tabula IS the reason VCs are shying away from funding semiconductor startups.
Each and every round was supposed to take Tabula to profitability. At 20:1 VC return ratio and $200M invested (a guess), they need to return $4B, or do $200M in net income to get the $4B with an IPO.
Thanks for pooping in the nest, guys.
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Dr DSP
3/29/2011 2:48 PM EDT
I'm still looking for the application that MUST use Tabula. Anyone found an example yet?
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