RedMere Technology has closed first-round venture capital funding to the tune of US$8.2m (€6.5m).
The Drogheda-based company is a fabless semiconductor maker, which designs and develops chipsets and then outsources manufacturing to facilities in Taiwan. Its main product is aimed for use in products such as high-definition (HD) TVs and home entertainment projection systems.
The new funding will be used to expand the RedMere’s microchip technology into a range of products based on the HDMI (high-definition multimedia interfaces) standard, which connects TVs and audiovisual systems and is a replacement for the old Scart cable. The kinds of products include HD TVs, media centres, media PCs, set-top boxes, projection systems, home theatre systems, DVD recorders and personal video recorders.
The A-round of financing was led by Celtic House Venture Partners of Ottawa and London and included syndicate partners Enterprise Ireland, 4th Level Ventures and Enterprise Equity as well as follow-on investment by seed-round investors.
RedMere also intends to use part of the investment money to boost its sales and marketing operations in the US and Asia. The company currently employs 20 people, mainly in research and development, at its offices in Drogheda and Cork. It plans to expand its staff numbers in Ireland to 40 by the end of next year.
By Gordon Smith
