UC Berkeley's custom semiconductor spinout has now raised $125m, after Qualcomm Ventures joined existing investors such as Osage University Partners for a $65.4m series D round.
SiFive, a US-based custom semiconductor spinout of University of California, Berkeley, obtained $65.4m yesterday in a series D round co-led by spinout-focused investment firm Osage University Partners (OUP).
The round was also co-led by Qualcomm Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of mobile chipmaker Qualcomm, wearable biometric device producer Huami, private equity firm Sutter Hill Ventures and VC firms Chengwei Capital and Spark Capital.
Founded in 2015, SiFive produces purpose-built semiconductors based on designs created by its clients using a cloud-based platform. The chips use Risc-V, an open-source and free-to-use type of instruction set architecture – the mechanism which outputs computer processing instructions.
The cash will drive technology development and support continued business growth. SiFive now has more than 400 employees across 15 locations globally, a ten-fold increase on the headcount of 40 based at its headquarters 18 months ago.
SiFive has now accrued more than $125m in funding, previously closing a $50.6m series C round in April 2018 co-led by OUP, Sutter Hill Ventures and Spark Capital.
Intel Capital, the corporate venturing arm of chipmaker Intel, also participated in the series C round, as did Huami, computer storage vendor Western Digital and SK Telecom, part of conglomerate SK Group.
OUP and Sutter Hill had already backed SiFive’s $8.5m series B round led by Spark Capital in 2017, in which Sutter Hill was described as an existing investor, though details of its earlier involvement have not been disclosed.
