LIGHTSPEED RECEIVES $25M IN MEZZANINE FUNDINGGoldman Sachs Leads the Team of InvestorsSUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 15, 2000--LightSpeed Semiconductor today announced that it has received $25 million in a mezzanine funding round led by Goldman Sachs, bringing the total equity of investments to $50 million. Goldman Sachs, a leading global investment banking and securities firm, joined prior investors InveStar Capital, Lucent Venture Partners, Mayfield Fund, Mohr Davidow Ventures, Synopsys, and U.S. Venture Partners in this final round of venture capital financing. LightSpeed's Fast-Turn System Chips(TM) offer a unique value proposition in the ASIC marketplace. Its Module Based Array (MBA) TopMetal(TM)-customized silicon solutions are ideal for moderate-volume designs that require high performance, high capacity, and flexibility at a reasonable price. MBAs utilize an innovative architecture that integrates unique features to enable rapid design and debug, eliminate test vector development, and support two- to three-week turnaround on production-ready parts. LightSpeed announced availability of its Reprogrammable Logic Engines(TM) (RLE(TM)) earlier this year, marking the industry's first reprogrammable ASIC technology breakthrough. Use of RLEs in MBA designs can eliminate the silicon respins typically needed in traditional ASIC designs to fix bugs or modify control logic functionality, thereby enabling systems to get to market faster than ever before. "More and more customers are experiencing the gap between FPGA and SoC solutions," said Jack Peckham, president of LightSpeed. "Even the highest-density FPGA cannot meet typical ASIC integration requirements, and SoC vendors are focusing their resources on high-volume, high-ROI designs with strategic customers. Many designs, especially for networking and communications systems, fall somewhere in between. Neither an FPGA nor SoC implementation provides a cost-effective solution for these designs, nor can they provide the fast turnaround customers require. LightSpeed's value proposition is ideally suited for designs that are characterized by high complexity, fast turnaround, and moderate volume requirements." LightSpeed utilizes Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC) as the foundry for its MBA devices. Current devices are available on 0.25-micron and 0.35-micron processes, and LightSpeed plans to migrate to TSMC's 0.15-micron process later this year. The current investment will be used primarily to fund next-generation product development aimed at broadening LightSpeed's product portfolio focused on networking and communications solutions, and increased sales and marketing activities. About Goldman Sachs & Co.Goldman Sachs is a leading global investment banking and securities firm providing a full range of investing, advisory and financing services worldwide to a substantial and diversified client base, which includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and high net worth individuals. Founded in 1869, it is one of the oldest and largest investment banking firms. The Firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other major financial centers around the world. About LightSpeed Semiconductor CorporationLightSpeed Semiconductor Corp. is a privately held corporation located in Sunnyvale, Calif. LightSpeed offers Fast-Turn System Chips for the networking and communications markets, particularly for companies that design and manufacture high-value products requiring moderate volumes of application-specific components--between 1,000 to 100,000 parts per year--and demand fast time-to-production. LightSpeed's Module Based Array architecture enables customers to significantly reduce their design and production cycle times to meet or exceed time-to-market requirements. LightSpeed's Reprogrammable Logic Engine(TM) (RLE(TM)) option is unique in the ASIC industry, allowing customers to modify high-density devices after delivery. For more information, contact: Note to Editors: Fast-Turn System Chips, Reprogrammable Logic Engine, RLE, and TopMetal are trademarks of LightSpeed Semiconductor Corp. |
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