Cambridge, MA. Arctic Sand Technologies, a maker of power-conversion ICs, has announced the completion of a $19 million Series B financing round, led by Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd. with co-investors GE Ventures, Northwater Capital, and Arsenal Venture Partners. Targeting major segments of the $5 billion DC/DC power-conversion market, Arctic Sand’s ICs today enable more runtime, smaller batteries, and thinner profile smartphones, tablets and Ultrabooks. Arctic Sand’s data center products increase server/storage platform power efficiency in up to 50% less space.
An MIT spin-out initially funded in January 2013, the company’s growing trove of patents (15 issued so far) includes three exclusively licensed MIT patents co-authored by Arctic Sand’s founder and chief scientist David Guiliano. The company is led by an executive management team that has previously built fabless power semiconductor companies and guided them to market success.
Commented Arctic Sand Technologies’ CEO Gary Davison, “While our best competitors struggle to increase power-conversion efficiency by 1% per chip generation and struggle to make them fit into ever-thinner products, Arctic Sand’s first commercial product, an LED backlight driver IC for mobile computing platforms, increases power conversion efficiency by about 10% in a 33% thinner form factor, and with no increase in circuit-board footprint. Think of it as a no cost way to add an hour or two of operation for your tablet or smartphone.”
Added Norio Nakajima, member of the board of directors and executive vice president, Communication & Sensor Business Unit and Energy Business Group, Murata, “Murata‘s long history of successful product innovation demonstrates that disruptive technologies are essential to enable market revolutions. This is why Murata is very excited to be working closely with the Arctic Sand team to develop market leading high-efficiency power conversion products and technologies for our common customers.”
