Smooth-Stone is raising $48 million from a unique syndicate of investors comprising venture capital firms and semiconductor innovators. The capital will be used to develop and market high performance, low power chips that will change the server market and the makeup of data centres. Smooth-Stone funding partners include ARM, Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC), Battery Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, Highland Capital Partners and Texas Instruments.
“This kind of investment, the amount, and the strength of this syndicate is a strong endorsement for the innovation we are bringing to market,” said Smooth-Stone CEO Barry Evans. With power consumption mattering more than ever Smooth-Stone will bring the low-power know-how behind mobile phone technology to servers and data centres. Its semiconductors and software will provide a solution for companies where energy consumption by servers has become a constraining and expensive issue by increasing the density of computer resources while significantly conserving energy, cooling and space in the data centre. “Our goal is to completely remove power consumption as an issue for the data centre. Imagine that change for companies with a large presence on the Internet,” added Evans. “The necessity of finding more energy efficient server solutions for data centres has created an enormous and truly revolutionary opportunity for the industry,” said Battery Ventures General Partner, Ken Lawler. Semiconductor investment has traditionally required a unique skill set and discipline, the importance of which has only been amplified by the recession. The combined expertise of the syndicate, which includes: Advanced Analogic, Cimaron, Ikanos, MaxLinear, PA Semi, Sigmatel and SiTerawill will look to actively support Smooth-Stone as it looks to redefine the server market and data centre performance. “ARM invests in companies that are taking innovative approaches to solving industry challenges and Smooth-Stone’s approach made them a perfect fit for our investment model,” said Bruce Beckloff, vice president of corporate business development, ARM. “There is a strong market need for a new class of data centre platforms that offer a significant improvement in performance from both the energy and density perspectives, and ARM is excited to support Smooth-stone’s efforts to develop innovative chip solutions for this new class of platforms.” With its investment, ARM continues to hold a seat on the Smooth-Stone board of directors, along with Evans and an independent, Howard Bubb. The three VCs, Battery Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners and Highland Capital Partners, and ATIC, also join the board.
