New Fabless Semiconductor Company, Ambric, Inc., Receives $10.4 Million In Series A Funding

Portland, Ore.-based Chip Company Funded by ComVentures and OVP Venture Partners

PORTLAND, Ore.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Sept. 13, 2004— New fabless semiconductor company OR Ambric(TM), Inc., announced the successful completion of its Series A financing. The $10.4 million round was co-led by ComVentures of Palo Alto, Calif. and OVP Venture Partners of Seattle, Wash. and Portland, Ore., and included all of Ambric's seed-stage investors, including Northwest Technology Ventures and private investors.

Ambric is developing a new type of programmable IC platform that will help electronics companies accelerate time to market for their products while also slashing chip development costs. The company was founded by Jay Eisenlohr, president and CEO, and Anthony Mark Jones, vice president of engineering and CTO. Eisenlohr has spent more than 25 years in the semiconductor and electronic design automation (EDA) industries. Ambric is the third start-up he has founded. His most recent company, Rendition, Inc., was sold to Micron Technology, Inc. for $125 million. Jones, who holds 48 patents, has spent 23 years in the integrated circuit (IC) industry, has deep expertise in all aspects of analog, digital, and system IC design.

"Ambric has ample funding to complete its initial set of products, which we will deliver in 2005 to the select group of international electronics companies we're working with," said Eisenlohr. "With this round of funding, Ambric will also hire additional hardware and software engineers and managerial staff. With more than 25,000 high-tech professionals in the Portland area, we can readily recruit top-level talent."

According to Roland Van der Meer, a partner at ComVentures and a member of Ambric's board of directors, "We invest only in companies with a sustainable and unique competitive advantage and very large upside. Our discussions with Ambric's customers convinced us that its technology would deliver high value to multiple segments of the electronics market."

David Chen, a partner in OVP Venture Partners and an Ambric board member, said, "We were compelled by the power of the Ambric technology, the magnitude of its market opportunity, and the early performance benchmark results. We believe Ambric draws on the unique talent base of chip and EDA expertise in this region."

About ComVentures

ComVentures, a venture capital firm with more than $1.5 billion under management, specializes in early-stage investments in the communications market. The firm focuses its investment expertise on pioneering companies that capitalize on the constant drive to build next-generation components, systems, software, and services. ComVentures consistently uncovers groundbreaking communications technologies, helps lead and grow its portfolio companies, and assists these companies in deploying new technologies in an ever-changing marketplace. For more information, visit www.comventures.com.

About OVP Venture Partners

OVP is the leading venture firm in the Pacific Northwest, and has more than $500 million in capital under management. The firm has raised six venture funds with an investment focus in pre-revenue software, communications, and electronics companies. Over the past 20 years, OVP has invested in almost 80 start-up companies, with 22 IPOs and a similar number achieving merger and acquisition. OVP VI closed in 2002 at $185 million. OVP's Technology Advisory Board includes leading CIOs and CTOs who work or have worked at Intel, Microsoft, Nike, Morgan Stanley, Aventis, General Electric, Deutsche Bank, Providence Health Systems, and TCI. For more information, please go to www.ovp.com.

About Ambric, Inc.

Ambric, Inc. is a privately held fabless semiconductor company developing a new type of programmable IC platform that will help electronics companies accelerate time to market for their products while also slashing chip development costs. Founded in 2003, Ambric is headquartered in Portland, Ore. For more information, visit www.ambric.com.

Ambric is a trademark of Ambric, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.