Celtic House Venture Partners Leads C$8 Million Follow-On Investment in Peraso Technologies
Posted on November 7, 2010
Toronto, ON / November 2010 - Celtic House Venture Partners has led a C$8 million equity financing round of Peraso Technologies. Based in Toronto, Ontario, Peraso is developing single-chip millimeter-wave transceivers for next-generation (60 GHz) wireless multimedia. In addition to existing investors iNovia Capital and VentureLink Funds, joining the investment syndicate as a new investor is the Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund (OETF), a C$250 million fund established by the Province of Ontario to co-invest alongside qualified investors in innovative, high-growth, private Ontario companies.
“Celtic House has built a portfolio of companies in digital multimedia,” said Ron Glibbery, CEO of Peraso. “The domain knowledge of the Celtic House team and the business advantages derived from being part of their cluster of companies provided the foundation for Peraso to rapidly bring to market the world’s first 60 GHz multimedia transceiver.”
“Bringing the world’s lowest cost, lowest power 60 GHz transceiver to market within a year of receiving initial venture funding is a significant accomplishment,” said Celtic House Partner Brian Antonen. “It’s a testament to the skills of the Peraso team and an example of our investment strategy, which stresses capital efficiency and risk mitigation. The addition of OETF to the syndicate will allow Peraso to support its accelerating business in the fast growing market for gigabit-class consumer electronics.”
The quality of Peraso’s core technology and team is a reflection of the Ontario semiconductor expertise in ultra high-speed wireless. The early management resources were drawn from Celtic House portfolio company Cogency Semiconductor, a Toronto-based home networking company that was acquired by Intellon (Atheros) in 2004. This was combined with state-of-the-art expertise in millimeter-wave RF design at the University of Toronto and, more recently, with antenna design expertise at the University of Waterloo. Together, these skills allow companies such as Peraso to thrive and succeed in the highly competitive environment for consumer electronics.
“We are excited to bring the Peraso technology to market,” said Celtic House Partner Tom Valis. “The focus of Celtic House is on Media Communication Technologies and the impact that media is having on consumer electronics, the data center, and wireless networks. Companies such as Peraso are positioned within our portfolio to enable the rapid evolution of networking technologies to support multimedia at unprecedented data rates.”
About Peraso
Peraso is a fabless semiconductor company focused on the development of mm-wave, single-chip transceivers. Peraso 60 GHz transceivers, compliant with emerging 60 GHz standards in the mobile consumer electronics market, are characterized by low power consumption, small footprint and optimal system implementation. For more information, visit: www.www.perasotech.com.
About Celtic House Venture Partners
For over 15 years, Celtic House Venture Partners has been Canada’s most active investor in private information and communications technology companies. Applying the deep domain expertise of its partners and capitalizing on a unique architectural approach to investing, Celtic House has consistently provided superior financial returns to its investors. With $315 million under management, Celtic House has collaborated with management teams and repeat entrepreneurs to develop platform technology companies from the inception phase through to exit, generating over 20 initial public offerings and successful acquisitions. For more information, visit www.celtic-house.com.
About the Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund
The Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund (OETF) is a direct investment fund established in 2009 by the Province of Ontario and administered by the Ontario Capital Growth Corporation (OCGC), an agency of the Ministry of Research and Innovation. The OETF is a C$250-million fund that co-invests alongside qualified investors in innovative, high-growth, private Ontario companies. The fund focuses on investments in Ontario companies in three sectors: clean technology, life sciences and advanced health technologies, and digital media and information and communications technology. For more information, visit www.ontario.ca/ocgc.