Fabless, Analog IC Provider Silicon Line Secures Funding to Pursue Fast-Growing Markets for Its Patented PHY Layer Chips

--Silicon Line GmbH, a German fabless IC company, focusing on ultra-low power analog ICs, today announced it has secured initial funding in a Series A round led by Belgium based Capital-E and Germany based Munich Venture Partners (MVP).

Silicon Line has developed unique, industry leading PHY-layer ICs for power critical optical data transport applications in portable systems and devices. The company has clearly the potential to become the industrial partner to connector suppliers in diverse market segments. The company plans to use the proceeds of this financing to pursue fast-growing markets for its patented PHY-layer ICs and to accelerate the growth of its organization.

Capital-E Partner, Pascal Vanluchene argues: “Silicon Line impressed us with its unprecedented low power standard CMOS IC’s for optical links solving today’s unacceptable interference issues given a multitude of available transmission standards and frequency bands. Trendy portable devices with simpler designs will go to the market much faster than ever before, and Capital-E is pleased to help realize the Company’s growth plan in that respect.”

"We are excited to invest in a world class team of semiconductor designers who have proved that they are able to implement surpassing performance in standard CMOS." commented Dr. Soenke Mehrgardt, General Partner at MVP. "This team, combined with a strategic marketing plan and a rich product roadmap, provides the building blocks for a very successful organization."

“We are delighted to welcome Capital-E and MVP as financial partners to Silicon Line. This investment will enable us to consolidate our leadership position in the analog IC market”, said Holger Hoeltke, Silicon Line’s founder and managing director.

About Capital-E

Capital-E is an early stage venture fund focused exclusively on micro- and nano-electronics related start-ups in Europe. Through its entrenched relationship with IMEC, the largest independent research centre in micro- and nano-electronics in Europe, the fund and its ventures can directly rely on the support of over 1300 specialised scientists and engineers, as well as leverage on IMEC’s 500+ worldwide industrial partners such as NXP, Infineon, STMicroelectronics, Intel, Matsushita/Panasonic, Texas Instruments, Samsung and TSMC to speed-up the process of market entry. The fund is managed by an independent team with a balanced mix of entrepreneurial, industrial and VC experience. For more information on Capital-E, please visit www.capital-E.be.

About MVP

Munich Venture Partners is an independent Venture Capital firm located in Munich, Germany. Founded by a group of senior executives of large international corporations and seasoned venture capital professionals, MVP focuses on venture capital investments into high-tech startups in all stages of their development. It is the goal of MVP to help today’s innovators to becoming the market leaders of tomorrow.

For more information on MVP, visit its web site at www.munichvp.com.

About Silicon Line

Silicon Line is a Germany based fabless analog IC company, specialized in providing innovative, ultra-low power IC solutions in standard CMOS-technology. Additional information is available at www.silicon-line.com.