News Release
Octane and Silicon Catalyst Announce a Broad Collaboration to Support Semiconductor Innovation
February 12, 2021, Aliso Viejo and Silicon Valley, California - Octane Enterprise Solutions, a subsidiary of Octane, the convening organization of Southern California’s technology and med-tech ecosystem, has established a collaboration with Silicon Catalyst to assist early and growth stage semiconductor companies in Southern California. Silicon Catalyst is the world’s only incubator focused exclusively on semiconductor solutions, offering a coalition of in-kind and strategic partners to dramatically reduce the cost and complexity of development for startups in the semiconductor industry.
Through the new partnership with Silicon Catalyst, Octane Enterprise Solutions (OES) will help to develop Southern California’s early-stage semiconductor companies. The new partnership will greatly improve access to capital and expertise to support the Southern California semiconductor community.
The partnership includes a referral system for Octane to offer the Silicon Catalyst incubator process to qualifying companies and makes available to graduates of the Silicon Catalyst incubator participation in Octane’s award-winning company accelerator, LaunchPad SBDC. These companies will now also have an opportunity to pursue funding from the investment ecosystems available from both OES and the Silicon Catalyst Angels investment group.
LaunchPad SBDC works with technology companies to enhance their investment capital strategy. Companies that have completed the LaunchPad process have collectively raised over $2.8 Billion. Over 80% of LaunchPad’s 600+ Alumni since 2010 have successfully raised capital.
Paul Tobin, President of OES said: “The combination of OES and Silicon Catalyst will ensure that Southern California’s innovative semiconductor companies get the support they need from their earliest days, with world-class mentoring and advice from our combined ecosystem of industry experts. The WSTS projects strong growth in 2021 for the industry, reaching $469 billion in world-wide revenue. This partnership will help build on the entrepreneurial spirit in our region and will drive further contributions via California’s leadership in this massive and highly competitive global semiconductor industry for generations to come.”
The mission of Silicon Catalyst is to lower the capital expenses associated with the design and fabrication of silicon-based IC’s, Sensors, and MEMS devices. For over five years, the Silicon Catalyst partner ecosystem has enabled early-stage companies to build complex silicon chips at a fraction of the typical cost.
“We welcome the Octane organization to our expanding eco-system and look forward to working with the innovative semiconductor companies in the region. Our industry has had numerous successful, public semiconductor companies originate out of Southern California and our team is ready to assist in building this next wave of success stories,” stated Pete Rodriguez, CEO of Silicon Catalyst.
Silicon Catalyst has created a unique ecosystem to provide critical support to semiconductor hardware start-ups, including tools and services from a comprehensive network of In-Kind Partners (IKPs) to dramatically reduce the cost of chip development. The Portfolio Companies in the incubator utilize IKP tools and services including design tools, simulation software, design services, foundry PDK access and MPW runs, test program development, tester access, and banking and legal services. Additionally, the startups can tap into the world-class Silicon Catalyst network of advisors and investors.
About Octane Enterprise Solutions
Octane Enterprise Solutions (OES) is a subsidiary of Octane committed to furthering Octane’s mission of creating 55,000+ jobs in Southern California by 2030. Through OES, small, mid-market and large companies leverage relationships with our vetted provider network and knowledge of the capital formation process to enhance their speed to capital and speed to revenue. Learn more at www.octaneoc.org/grow
About Silicon Catalyst
It’s About What’s Next® - Silicon Catalyst is the world’s only incubator focused exclusively on semiconductor solutions (incl. IP, MEMs and Sensors), building a coalition of in-kind and strategic partners to dramatically reduce the cost and complexity of development. More than 400 startup companies have engaged with Silicon Catalyst since April 2015, with a total of 36 startup and early-stage companies admitted to the incubator. With a world-class network of mentors to advise startups, Silicon Catalyst is helping new semiconductor companies address the challenges in moving from idea to realization. The incubator/accelerator supplies startups with a path to design tools, silicon devices, networking, access to funding, banking and marketing acumen to successfully launch and grow their companies’ novel technology solutions. The Silicon Catalyst Angels was established in July 2019 as a separate organization to provide access to seed and Series A funding for Silicon Catalyst portfolio companies.
More information is available at www.siliconcatalyst.com and www.siliconcatalystangels.com