Xilinx CEO: Venture capital won't return to semis

Dylan McGrath, EE Times
(03/10/2009 11:56 PM EDT)

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.—Venture capital funding is in short supply and won't return to the semiconductor industry even after the current recession, according to Moshe Gavrielov, president and CEO of programmable logic supplier Xilinx Inc.

Venture capitalists do not want to invest in semiconductor startups because of the amount of money required and the greater-than-five-year time horizon when they can expect their investment to pay off, Gavrielov told an audience at the Semico Summit 2009 event here.

"I predict that VC investment in semiconductor companies will drop precipitously," Gavrielov said. "It just does not meet the profiles they are looking at and they have other places where they can put their money."

Gavrielov mentioned green technology and Internet companies as more attractive options for VCs.

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