Startup raises $30 million to bring MRAM to market

LONDON – A Moscow-based investor has helped MRAM startup Avalanche Technology Inc. (Fremont, Calif.) close a third round of equity funding at $30 million. The money will be used to "productize" the company's technology, which the firm says is ready for action in applications such as solid-state drives.

The $30 million raised brings the total invested in the company since its formation in 2006 to about $50 million.

The money will be used to bring Avalanche's spin-transfer torque magnetic random access memory (STT-MRAM) non-volatile memory chips into production. These will be based on Avalanche's proprietary spin-programmable memory (SPMEM) technology, which the company claims combines spin-current and voltage switching to allow lower write current, smaller cell size and scalability to future technology nodes and radiation-hard applications.

Avalanche did not state what size of stand-alone memory it intends to bring to market or when. But on its website the company states it has produced 64-Mbit STT MRAMs on 65-nm low power CMOS processes on 300-mm diameter wafers at multiple foundries.

The memory is expected to be utilized in solid-state storage such as solid-state drives (SSDs), the company added.

Avalanche also ostates on its website that its cell size roadmap begins at 15F2 and extends below 1.0F2 to be less than 20 percent of the relative size of any current memory device.