A2D Invest

Jan 15, 2013

DelfMEMS Raises $10.5M From CDC, Iris, Capilalaria, VIVES, Others January 14, 2013 By Mark Boslet DelfMEMS said it raised $10.5 million in Series B funding from CDC Entreprises, Iris Capital, Capitalaria, VIVES as well as existing investors A2D Invest, Alliansys, Finorpa, Inovam, Rhône-Alpes-Création and various angels. The funding will be used to support the company’s growth in MEMS based switching products used as front end wireless modules for mobile devices like smart phones and tablets. PRESS RELEASE DelfMEMS secures $10.5M in second round funding and hires Guillaume D’Eyssautier as its new CEO Villeneuve d’Ascq & Paris – January 14th, 2013. FSN PME, managed by CDC Entreprises– in the context of the Programme d’Investissements d’Avenir, together with Iris Capital, VIVES, Capitalaria and early investors of the company, announce an investment in DelfMEMS, a developer of MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems) switching solutions for applications in the RadioFrequency (RF) communication field. The funding of €8.2M ($10.5M), of which €3,5M ($4.5M) from the FSN PME, will enable DelfMEMS to accelerate the industrialisation of its products. The company also announces the appointment of Guillaume d’Essautier as CEO. DelfMEMS, a leading player in the field of RF components and developer of innovative RF MEMS switching solutions, announces that the company has secured 8.2M€ ($10.5M) in round B funding. This substantial investment comes from CDC Entreprises, Iris Capital, Capitalaria, VIVES as well as previous investors (A2D Invest, Alliansys, Finorpa, Inovam, Rhône-Alpes-Création, and business angels). The new funding will be used to support the company’s growth in the next generation wireless front end modules for mobile devices like smart phones and tablets. DelfMEMS proposes a new integrated micro-mechanical building block that is based on a strong, totally new IP portfolio that solves past issues and substantially improves insertion loss, linearity, integration, hot switching behavior, switching time (<1μs), and power consumption to simplify RF architectures. ”DelfMEMS’ technology enables its customers to increase bandwidth while minimizing cost, size, and consumption,” explains Olivier Millet, founder of DelfMEMS. “These funds will enable us to qualify first design wins and DelfMEMS manufacturing process including Thin Film Packaging with our partner for high volume manufacturing entity in the USA. The goal is to support the aggressive production ramp-up of our customers to penetrate the market.” DelfMEMS is currently engaged with the leaders of equipment for mobile applications and is also pursuing instrumentation, defence, and other high added value applications. Along with the investment, DelfMEMS appoints Guillaume d’Eyssautier as its new CEO. Olivier Millet, the company’s former chief executive officer and founder, will remain on the board and will take the role of chief strategy and marketing officer of DelfMEMS. Guillaume d’Eyssautier career has spanned over the past 30 years in the semiconductor industry, including management positions in both Europe and the USA. Most recently he was CEO of ADD semiconductor which he sold to Atmel in October 2011. Prior to ADD he was CEO of picoChip, sold to Mindspeed. Prior to that, he served as Senior VP-GM at Cadence Design Systems, VP-GM EMEA for IBM Technology Group (Microelectronics and Storage ) and hold executive and management positions at Rockwell Semiconductor, GEC-Plessey Semiconductor, Matra Harris Semiconductors and Philips Semiconductors. Olivier Millet commented: “We founded DelfMEMS with the vision of being a major player in wireless, and we are delighted to appoint a CEO who has the ideal pedigree to capitalize on this. We worked closely with Guillaume during the past months to make the transition seamless for our customers. With an impeccable track record of CEO of technology start-ups and senior management positions within blue-chip semiconductor and design companies, it would be difficult to imagine a better candidate than Guillaume to lead DelfMEMS as it moves up to the next level in its evolution.” Guillaume d’Eyssautier commented: “I have worked across the semiconductor industry in a variety of first-rate companies and I am very proud to have joined DelfMEMS. We have an incredibly attractive technology, as recognized by our great customers and partners. I look forward to building on these achievements and DelfMEMS becoming a wonderful success.” Commenting on the investment, “The round, which brings total company funding to $17 million, is a significant boost for DelfMEMS to extend its leadership as a RFMEMS vendor. Guillaume d’Eyssautier concludes, “this funding, along with our major design wins and rapidly growing revenue, will take us comfortably to the point of volume production and position us well for success.” “DelfMEMS reached a point where significant cash infusion was needed to support its client traction“, states Frédéric Le Brun, investment director at CDC Entreprises. ”With Iris Capital, VIVES and Capitalaria, we are taking over from the historical investors, who have backed the growth of DelfMEMs from its inception with the ambition of turning it into a worldwide leader. This deal, led by both local and national players among which funds that are backed by CDC Entreprises, totally illustrates the FSN PME’s strategy.” Investors: CDC Entreprises: Veronique Jacq, Frédéric Le Brun Iris Capital: Guillaume Meulle Vives: Philippe Durieux, André Vandemeulebroecke Capitalaria: Eric de la Bigne A2D Invest et Expansinvest: Yvan Noble Finorpa: Françoise Depoorter Groupe IRD (Inovam, Alliansys): Helene Cannard Guillon. Rhône-Alpes Création: Mathieu Viallard Advisors: Go4Venture Advisers LLP was the exclusive financial advisor of the company and its shareholders. Legal New Investors: Chammas & Marcheteau (D. Marcheteau, S. Bréjaud et R. Bouillon) Legal Society and existing shareholders: Morgan Lewis (D. J. Sebag and L. de Tinguy) Legal Audit: Nomos Accounting Due Diligence: Oderis (Julien Passerat) IP Due Diligence: Grünecker (Wolfgang Neubeck) Press contacts: CDC Entreprises: Nathalie Police – [email protected] – 01 58 50 73 02 Iris Capital: Kablé Communication Finance – [email protected] – 01 44 50 54 74 Vives: Philippe Durieux, [email protected] – Tel. : +32 10 390021 Capitalaria: Eric de la Bigne – [email protected] FSN PME is an investment fund dedicated dedicated to innovative SMEs, intiated by the French State through its Long Term Investment Program (Programme d’investissement d’Avenir) and managed by CDC Entreprises, subsidiary of Caisse des Dépôts. This 400 M€ fund co-invest in SME’s with strong innovation and growth profile, developing new usages, services and digital contents or technologies necessary to digital economy expansion. web: http://www.cdcentreprises.fr/portefeuille/fiche/fonds_directs/F332/fsn_pme.php About Iris Capital Iris Capital is a pan-European venture capital fund manager specializing in digital economy. Since its inception in 1986, the Iris Capital team has invested more than €900 million in more than 200 companies. Iris Capital targets opportunities in service or technology companies, seeking growth capital in order to realize their strategy. It provides active support to its portfolio companies on the basis of its strong sector specialization and experience, and has offices in Paris, Düsseldorf, San Francisco, Montreal, Riyadh, Dubai, Beijing and Tokyo. In 2012 Iris Capital has entered into a strategic partnership with Orange and Publicis to manage their joint venture capital initiative. About ViVES VIVES – Louvain Technology Fund (www.vivesfund.com) is a cross border private technology fund that invests in spin-offs from Université catholique de Louvain (UCL, www.uclouvain.be) as well as in technological start-ups. VIVES is a multi-sectorial fund with particular emphasis on eco-innovation projects. VIVES invests in companies at all stages of maturity: seed, start-up and growth. Created at the initiative of UCL in September 2011, VIVES closed its 1st financing round at € 43 million, making it the largest European investment fund ever initiated by a university. VIVES is managed by Sopartec (www.sopartec.com), UCL ́s technology transfer company and a member of the Louvain Technology Transfer Office (LTTO, www.ltto.com). Since more than 20 years, UCL, Sopartec and the VIVES fund have supported the creation of more than 60 spin-offs and start- ups, which currently employ over 3.000 people. VIVES is capitalised by leading national and European investors such as the European Investment Fund (EIF), SFPI-FPIM, Fortis Private Equity Belgium, CDC Entreprises (France), ING Belgium, Sofina, AXA Belgium, Belfius Bank, IRD (France), Nivelinvest, but also by Sopartec and its management team. About Capitalaria CapitalAria is an independent French investment company with an international reach. We invest in selected companies which bring breakthrough technologies in fast growing global markets. Our investments encompass European and North American companies which typically are at go-to-market stage with a strong potential of value creation through rapid growth. We favor situations where we can build proximity and dynamic interaction with management teams which enables us to dedicate financial support to the companies until they reach a recognized market position. About Inovam INOVAM is a regional seed capital that invests in early-stage growth companies in the North of France. INOVAM invests in the sectors of information technology (hardware and software), security, telecommunications, microelectronics, cleantechs and life sciences. INOVAM provides supports for companies via the IRD group (www.irdnpdc.fr) network of entrepreneurs. The deal flow of Inovam is ensured by the universities as well as by technological start-ups located in the North of France; Inovam is capitalised with € 10M by the following partners: IRD group; Conseil regional Npdc; Caisse d’Epargne; PRES; FPMEI-FCPR (CDC) et CRCI. Since its creation, INOVAM has invested 6 ME into 41 companies. About Rhône-Alpes Création Since more than 20 years, Rhône-Alpes Création is the financing partner for early stage start-ups, investing in equity to help financing the initial phases of their development. Incepted by Région Rhône-Alpes with support of local banks and managing 44 m€, Rhône-Alpes Création is a privately held company playing a key role in the early stage financing ecosystem, at seed and venture capital levels, with more than 230 companies supported to date. With a team of 7 investment professionals, Rhône-Alpes Création currently manages a portfolio of 56 promising companies. About Alpes Développement Durable Investissement Alpes Développement Durable Investissement (A2D-Invest) is with Expansinvest, one of the two proximity venture capital subsidiaries of the Banque Populaire des Alpes. A2D-Invest, founded in 2009, invests in Rhône-Alpes area in small and medium companies carrying projects bound to sustainable development, renewable energies, environmental protection or to projects evolving in medical progress and biotechnologies fields. Expansinvest has invested in about 60 companies, for about €14M. About Finorpa The Finorpa group is the main investor in equity and quasi-equity in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. An investment capacity of about €20M every year is available through two investment vehicles: – Finorpa SCR invests in equity in SMB; it is active in seed capital but also in growth capital and LBO. Finorpa SCR has invested in 160 companies and manages about €60M. – Finorpa PP invests in quasi-equity through loans or securities in local SMB. With a portfolio of more than 200 companies, Finorpa PP manages an asset of more than €30M. Each vehicle can invest on its own or together with another tool of the group; it can also co-invest with other, national or local, investment fund. © 2015 Buyouts Insider / Argosy Group LLC