What to know about Investing in Semiconductor Startups

A webinar

By: Mike Gianfagna

Investing in semiconductor startups is something Silicon Catalyst knows a lot about. During a time when venture funding for chip companies all but disappeared, this remarkable organization built a robust incubator, ecosystem, support infrastructure and funding source. Silicon Catalyst has assembled a top-notch management team and an extensive, world-class advisor network. You can learn more about this remarkable organization here. Silicon Catalyst also has a great track record for putting on compelling events with A-list participants. You can read SemiWiki coverage of their most recent event here. So, when Silicon Catalyst announces a webinar on investing in semiconductor startups, you must take notice.

Chips are Popular Again

It appears the rest of the world is now seeing what Silicon Catalyst saw all along. As stated by Silicon Catalyst:

Following a remarkable year of over 25% year on year growth, the global semiconductor industry is poised to experience strong growth in 2022. World-wide sales for this year are projected to reach in excess of $600 billion in what many are calling the golden era of semiconductors.

Chips are indeed hot again. Another interesting fact courtesy of Silicon Catalyst:

Nuvia is a great example, having taken their first round of money in April 2019 at a post-money valuation of $16 million and being acquired by Qualcomm in March of 2021 for over $1.2 billion.

Examples like this are truly remarkable. They also don’t happen every day. For every home run, there are many more failures. Understanding the trends and developing insight to spot the companies that are correctly leveraging those trends is the focus of the upcoming webinar. As usual, Silicon Catalyst has assembled an all-star cast to discuss these topics. We can all learn a lot from these folks, so I highly recommend you attend this event. More information is coming.

An All-Star Cast Weighs In

Moderated by Cliff Hirsch, Publisher at Semiconductor Times

Panelists:

Rajeev Madhavan - NA, Founder and General Partner, Clear Ventures

Emily Meads - EU, Analyst, Speedinvest

Owen Metters - UK, Investment Manager, Foresight Williams Technology Funds

Dov Moran - Israel, Managing Partner, Grove Venture Capital

And a special presentation by

Junko Yoshida, Editor in Chief, The Ojo-Yoshida Report

Bolaji Ojo, Publisher & Managing Editor, The Ojo-Yoshida Report

Cliff Hirsch

Publisher at Semiconductor Times

Technology executive with 30-year career highlighted by myriad successful sales, marketing and business development initiatives. Unique combination of inspirational leadership, deep strategic insight and tactical “get-it-done” mentality. Vast technology expertise coupled with exceptional business and financial acumen. Massive worldwide professional network developed by cultivating cross-domain relationships with the highest level of integrity, strong work effort, and “no-agenda” problem solving approach. Specialties: Extreme depth and breadth in semiconductors and related technologies, communications, data/telecom network infrastructure, and open source web technology. Analyzed >4,000 private and public companies in the semiconductor & comm/IT space. More information at semiconductortimes.com

Rajeev Madhavan

Founder & General Partner at Clear Ventures

Rajeev Madhavan is a founder and General Partner of Clear, where he focuses on early stage technology investments. Rajeev brings operational skills from founding, building and running (as CEO) two highly successful companies. He has the uncanny ability to deeply understand what entrepreneurs are trying to do, and to steer them onto a successful path. He has been a venture investor in over 35 companies. Rajeev’s notable exits include Apigee (IPO), YuMe (IPO), Virident (acquired), Magma (IPO), Groupon (IPO), VxTel (acquired), LogicVision (IPO) and Ambit (acquired). Prior to founding Clear in 2014, Rajeev founded three successful startups. The most recent, Magma Design Automation, became the 4th largest Electronic Design Automation company in the world under his leadership. Rajeev served as Magma’s Chairman and CEO from when he co-founded the company in 1997 through its acquisition by Synopsys in February 2012 for $580 million.

Emily Meads

Analyst at Speedinvest

Emily is a Physicist by training, holding a Bachelors and Masters in Physics from the University of Bath. She passionately supports Deep Tech companies and the Deep Tech ecosystem, and always strives to give scientific credibility to the VC side of the table. Understanding that key enabling technologies can sometimes get lost behind the walls of academia, she is excited the most by helping founders take their technology out of the lab and into the real world. Before joining Speedinvest, Emily worked for Fraunhofer IZM, as well as a software engineering startup where she first caught the startup bug. She then worked at Spin Up Science where she specifically supported innovators on their Deep Tech commercialization journeys. She draws upon these experiences everyday to sharpen her Deep Tech lens. Her most recent challenge? A Masters in Quantum Computing Technologies, which she is excited to complete to better support the dynamic Quantum ecosystem.

Owen Metters

Investment Manager at Foresight Williams Technology Funds

Dr. Owen Metters is an Investment Manager at Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE). His core focus is sourcing and evaluating new investment opportunities for the Foresight Williams Funds. These funds invest in UK-based deep technology businesses with disruptive and defensible IP and support investee companies by facilitating access to WAE’s engineering team and customer network. Since inception the Foresight Williams Funds have invested £48m into 27 companies operating across a range of sectors. The funds have supported six early-stage, UK-based businesses developing semiconductor devices or tools for the semiconductor industry. Owen has worked at Oxford University Innovation, the technology transfer organization for the University of Oxford, supporting academics in the commercialization of University IP leading to the formation of several successful spin-out companies which have then raised over £20m of VC funding & holds a PhD in Inorganic & Materials Chemistry from Bristol University.

Dov Moran

Managing Partner Grove Ventures

Dov Moran is the Managing Partner of Grove Ventures. He is one of Israel’s most prominent hi-tech leaders, entrepreneurs and investors. Dov is known as a pioneer of several flash memory technologies, most notably as the inventor of the USB flash drive. He was a founder and CEO of M-Systems (NSDQ: FLSH), a world leader in the flash data storage market. Under Dov’s leadership, M-Systems grew to $1B revenue, and was acquired by SanDisk Corp (NSDQ: SNDK) for $1.6B. This still ranks as one of the single biggest acquisitions in Israel. After the sale of M-systems, Dov founded Modu, an innovative company with a revolutionary modular phone concept. Modu’s assets were acquired by Google in 2011 and are the basis for Google’s modular phone Project Ara. Dov has invested in many successful start-ups across multiple sectors, and serves on the boards of RapidAPI, Wiliot, Neuroblade, TriEye and Ramon.Space. He was previously the Chairman of Tower Semiconductors (NASDAQ: TSEM).

Junko Yoshida

Editor in Chief at The Ojo-Yoshida Report

Junko Yoshida has always been a “roving reporter” in the most literal sense. After logging 11 years of international experience at a Japanese consumer electronics company, Junko pursued a peripatetic journalism career, breaking stories, securing exclusives, and filing incisive analyses from Tokyo, Silicon Valley, Paris, New York, and China. Junko’s contacts and professional experience are global, multicultural, and multilingual. She writes and speaks authoritatively on consumer electronics, automotive, semiconductors, emerging technologies, and intellectual property, with a deep understanding of the business strategies that companies are pursuing to compete on a global scale. ‌During her three decades at EE Times, Junko rose up the ranks from Tokyo correspondent to West Coast bureau chief, European bureau chief, news editor, and editor-in-chief. She earned a reputation as an innovator, shepherding EE Times’ expansion into e-books.

Bolaji Ojo

Publisher and Managing Editor at The Ojo-Yoshida Report

Veteran business, finance, and technology journalist Bolaji Ojo is a jack-of-all-media but an entrepreneur at heart. “Bola,” a former Bloomberg News reporter and lifelong media innovator, has been a publisher, media executive, business owner, and media market analyst and consultant, working at the nexus of politics, technology, and the global supply chain. After more than a decade with publications in Africa, Europe, and Asia, Bolaji joined UBM Media in 1999, working as a business editor, managing editor, and editor-in-chief at titles including EE Times, Electronic Buyers’ News, and Electronics Supply & Manufacturing Magazine. He moved to global technology media giant AspenCore along with EE Times and other UBM properties. As AspenCore group publisher and global co-editor-in-chief, he expanded the company’s print, online, and event presence in Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America.