Luminary Micro Closes $14 Million in Series B Round as Demand for Stellaris(TM) MCUs and First ARM for $1.00 Continues to Grow
Six New Products in Two Months Increase Investor Confidence; Additional ARM Cortex-M3 Processor based Introductions Scheduled Soon
AUSTIN, Texas -- June 12, 2006 -- Luminary Micro (http://www.luminarymicro.com), a fabless semiconductor company that designs, markets, and sells ARM® Cortex(TM)-M3 processor-based microcontrollers and was the first to bring ARM technology for $1.00 to embedded developers, announces today that it has closed its Series B private funding round for $14 million. New investor New Enterprise Associates (NEA) (http://www.nea.com) led the round, with participation from new investor ATA Ventures (http://www.ataventures.com) and from existing investors, including EXA Ventures who led the Company's first round. Two new Directors will be joining the Luminary Micro Board of Directors. The funds will be used for engineering, sales and marketing as the company continues its aggressive product development and launch schedule, having just announced six new members of the Stellaris(TM) MCU family in less than 60 days. All of its products are currently available and are being sampled by customers.
Jimmy Treybig and Paul Hsiao of NEA will join Luminary Micro's Board. Treybig, based in Austin, works closely with NEA's information technology practice sourcing new deals and evaluating new investment opportunities. He also serves on the boards of Austin-based Motion Computing and HelioVolt, in addition to serving on the board of trustees for Austin's Seton HealthCare Network. Prior to joining NEA as a venture partner, Jimmy was the principal founder of Tandem Computers, serving as its CEO from 1974 until 1996.
"We at NEA are extremely excited about our investment in Luminary Micro and have been anticipating our role since shortly after their groundbreaking introduction of the first 32-bit member of the Stellaris family for only $1.00," said Treybig. "Since then, our enthusiasm has only increased. With Luminary Micro's Stellaris microcontrollers, embedded developers can affordably enter the ARM family with a 32-bit MCU. From $1 to 1 GHz, Luminary Micro and ARM bring software code compatibility to the previously fragmented embedded market. This frees embedded system designers from the dreary burden of endlessly porting applications and systems from one proprietary architecture to another, resulting in a faster time-to-market and more innovative product solutions."
Treybig is joined on Luminary Micro's board by NEA Principal Paul Hsiao, who also specializes in information technology investments. Paul has been involved with numerous NEA semiconductor investments including SMIC, Actions Semi, Spreadtrum Communications, Atheros Communications, BCD Semiconductor, and Telegent Systems. Paul also brings years of experience working with the electronics ecosystem in Asia-Pacific.
"NEA has an active and broad semiconductor portfolio with more than twenty-five current investments. We have been paying attention to the market numbers for MCU applications, and over the past few years, real life has started to catch up with predictions," said Hsiao. "By naming Luminary its lead partner for Cortex-M3 processor-based MCUs, ARM has shown its confidence in the company. The past months have highlighted the company's strengths and abilities to get products to market and in the hands of embedded designers."
"As a technology investor, we can appreciate the high costs that incompatible software and tools add to design costs, which only serves to stifle new design," said new investor Michio Fujimura, co-founder and managing director of ATA Ventures. "Now, entering the ARM architecture with Stellaris microcontrollers, those barriers are forever removed. Luminary Micro's Stellaris family of microcontrollers is changing the embedded landscape by making it possible for developers to replace and upgrade legacy 8- and 16-bit designs with an ARM Cortex-M3 microcontroller without a price penalty."
"We are very pleased to welcome NEA and ATA Ventures to Luminary Micro," said CEO Jim Reinhart. "We thank all of our investors for their commitment to the vision and execution of our market plan. We are fortunate to be working with a stellar group of investors, upon whose collective wisdom we can draw to accelerate Luminary Micro's product success. With this capital infusion, we will be able to support our rapid customer acquisition ramp and relentlessly extend our microcontroller product portfolio with continuing new product introductions."
Thus far this year, Luminary Micro has introduced six 32-bit MCUs, including its entry-level LM3S101, which sells for only $1.00. The other devices -- the LM3S102, LM3S301, LM3S310, LM3S315 and LM3S316 -- offer a mix of microcontroller peripheral features, memory sizes, and device speeds at prices ranging from $1.26 to $4.62. The company plans additional product releases this year and all with be announced with immediate availability.
"We have a policy at Luminary Micro that when we publicly announce our devices, those devices are available for customer sampling immediately," said Chief Marketing Officer Jean Anne Booth. "Everything the embedded designer needs, from development kit and interchangeable daughter-cards for each Stellaris family member to the silicon itself, is ready to order and in distribution stock on announcement date. Our customers have been extremely pleased with this philosophy, and that is in part reflected in our investor confidence as we continue to grow."
About Luminary Micro and Stellaris
Founded in 2004, Luminary Micro, Inc. designs, markets and sells ARM Cortex-M3 processor-based microcontrollers (MCUs). Austin, Texas-based Luminary Micro is the lead partner for the Cortex-M3 processor, delivering the world's first silicon implementation of the Cortex-M3 processor. Luminary Micro's introduction of the Stellaris(TM) family of products provides 32-bit performance for the same price as current 8- and 16-bit microcontroller designs. With entry-level pricing at $1.00 for an ARM technology-based MCU, Luminary Micro's Stellaris product line allows for standardization that eliminates future architectural upgrades or software tools changes. Contact the company at 1-512-279-8800 or email press@luminarymicro.com for more information.
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