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Saturday, November 21, 
10:57 pm

Crocus Technology germinates with €11.5M second round

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crocus.gifFor the second time, Franco-American memory chip systems developer Crocus Technology has looked to both venture investors and government grants for a new €11.5 million ($16.1 million) installment of capital. The four-year-old startup is expected to announce €8.5 million in second-round venture money from existing investors, alongside a €3 million award from French research and development agency OSEO.

Founded in Grenoble, France, Crocus moved the bulk of its operations to Silicon Valley in 2006, establishing an official headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif. that year. Paris-based Sofinnova Partners and its U.S. affiliate, Sofinnova Ventures of San Francisco, have both invested, as have European funds AGF Private Equity, Ventech, CDC Enterprises Innovation and NanoDimension. That group supplied $17 million in Series A money to Crocus in 2006, alongside other grants from the French government including roughly $500,000 in seed money.

Crocus is developing magnetic random access memory (MRAM) technology, used in high-speed, low-power system-on-a-chip devices. The company says the new funding will allow it to complete its technology development phase, in advance of product introductions. -- Paul Bonanos

See press release concerning Crocus's 2006 first round of funding

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Comments

From: Dan Stull,

I've been following the development of Mram for a bit now and I'm curious why all the "Big" investors and companies are backing out of it.

What is the truth...

I know that as of now its not so cost efficient to produce but what are they doing with the funds I don't get it.

What is the phase they are in...

I know the Japanese are actually using Mram in one of its sattelites but, is it really ready for production?

If they can make it cost efficient and work there's no reason that it shouldn't become the standard in all computers.

Please give some more information on where crocus' is in it's development.

I read that Samsung and other companies backed out of NVE.


From: Olaf Domis,

Dan - Some companies, like Cypress Semi, have pulled out MRAM developement. While it's seen as one of the main viable options to DRAM, with high speed and density with low-power consumption, the development has been time and money consuming.
That said, a bunch of big players are still very much dedicated to the tech. Freescale spun off its MRAM ops into EverSpin, and NEC, Renesas and Toshiba are pushing development.
I think you're right -- if the technology can be produced cost efficiently, it will take off.

Thanks for your comment,

Olaf Domis
West Coast bureau chief
The Deal/Tech Confidential


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