Semiconductor design startup Intrinsity Inc. said Monday it raised $31.5 million in a fifth round of venture capital, a strong endorsement of the company's three-year transition into a "chipless" company devoted solely to licensing its intellectual property.Late-stage investors Goldman, Sachs & Co., Altitude Capital Partners and Northwater Capital Management Inc., all of New York, joined the round, which also included previous investors Adams Capital Management of Austin, Texas, and Hillman Co. of Pittsburgh. The deal brings total investment in the 11-year-old company, which is based in Austin, to nearly $100 million, and will allow it to expand existing licensing programs and continue developing design tools and proprietary code for creating ultra-fast programmable chips, primarily for the wireless telecommunications infrastructure industry.
Rob Kramer, managing partner at Altitude, said the firm was attracted to the deal based on the strong royalty agreements Intrinsity has in place for licensing its high-speed, low-power embedded processor cores, along with the company's opportunity to generate additional licensing business. Altitude is a three-year-old firm that invests solely in companies with an IP-licensing model, and Kramer said Intrinsity has quickly amassed a number of long-term deals that ensure a healthy revenue stream, even as it continues to develop new technology.
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