A Dublin-based electronics firm engaged in designing and creating its own-branded chips for the next-generation of consumer electronics devices like flatscreen TVs has raised an additional US$5m in venture capital, bringing to US$13.5m the amount it has raised in the last six months.
The top-up investment in Balbriggan-based RedMere was led by Edgestone Capital Partners, a Canadian private equity firm, along with additional reinvestment by the original investors including Celtic House Venture Partners.
RedMere says it will use the funding to expand its portfolio of unique multimedia communications chipsets, aligned with market expansion in Asia.
RedMere designs and markets chipsets that are used in the fast-growing HDMI (high-definition multimedia interface) devices market, from flatscreen televisions to surround sound systems. The advanced communications microchip technology manages the faster flow of complex video and audio data to improve performance and reliability.
According to Instat, there will be 200 million HDMI units in the marketplace by 2008. Many of these are visible in LCD and plasma TVs but also include media centres, media PCs, set-top-boxes, projection systems, home tTheatre systems, DVD recorders and personal video recorders.
RedMere’s technology enhances the performance of these devices and the subsequent user experience.
The company has produced a range of patented chipsets that were unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas earlier this year.
“Following our first round of fundraising and customer reaction to our products at CES, there has been a lot of interest in our technology and our market success. This additional funding demonstrates the confidence in the company by our investors and will allow us to focus on exploiting new market and applications opportunities.”
Redmere’s business model is based upon fabless chip design whereby the company designs and develops its own chips but outsources the manufacturing function. This model has been embraced by companies like Xilinx, which employs 450 people in Dublin in the design of chips for the telecoms industry.
RedMere officially opened an office in Taipei, Taiwan and has recently moved its headquarters to new offices in Balbriggan, Co Dublin. Its design office in Cork will be expanding into new premises in Q2.
“We believe Redmere is addressing a very large market need, both current and future, in consumer electronics connectivity and has a world-class team of technologists and management,” explained Derek Smyth, partner, Edgestone Capital Partners who will be joining the board of Redmere as part of his company’s investment
By John Kennedy
