Spin Memory banks Abies for series B

Spin Memory, a US-based random access memory (Ram) technology developer spun out from New York University, on Tuesday  added deep tech-focused VC firm Abies Ventures to its series B round, which currently stands at $52m.
Semiconductor equipment producers Arm and Applied Materials co-led the round, supplying $29m of equity funding alongside undisclosed new and existing investors, with Applied Materials investing through its subsidiary Applied Ventures.
The remaining $22.8m came from convertible securities issued in an October 2017 bridge round to commercialisation firm Allied Minds, Invesco Asset Management and Woodford Investment Management.
Originally incorporated as Spin Transfer Technologies, Spin Memory is working on designs for magnetoresistive random access memory (MRam) that will be able to supplant existing Ram technologies.
As computers typically use Ram to hold data and machine code as it is actively processed, deep tech applications such as artificial intelligence and big data are likely to require it in abundance.
Spin Memory’s MRam range will initially offer comparable speed and endurance to static Ram chips, which often handle video processing and processed cache memory in computer systems.
Eventually, the design would also match the performance of dynamic Ram components used to quickly access data without activating the computer’s hard disk or solid-state drive.
In conjunction with the series B round, Applied Materials has agreed to partner Spin Memory on building an embedded MRam product, while Arm has licensed one of Spin’s existing designs for static Ram technology.
Spin Memory was formed under a partnership between commercialisation firm Allied Minds and New York University in 2007, before Allied Minds joined Invesco to co-lead Spin’s $36m series A round five years later.
The spinout subsequently received $70m in a 2014 round led by Woodford Investment that featured Invesco and multi-family office SandAire.