Crocus snags $15.8M to develop magnetic memory chips
French semiconductor maker Crocus Technology has raised $15.8 million in second round financing, in addition to $4.1 million from OSEO, France’s public agency for funding innovation.
The company plans to use the round for continued development of its magnetic random access memory (MRAM) chips, which can store information using magnetic fields. These chips are less volatile, suck less power and are generally faster than the flash memory used in most computers and handheld electronics.
Crocus expects that its MRAM technology will start to replace flash once it goes commercial. But it isn’t the only competitor in the field. Austin, Tex.-based Freescale Semiconductor Inc., an offshoot of EverSpin Technologies Inc., and Silicon Valley’s Grandis Inc. are racing toward the same finish line with venture backing of their own, according to VentureWire.
Crocus’ recent funding round included existing investors AGF Private Equity, CDC Innovation, NanoDimension, Sofinnova Ventures and Ventech.
Next Story: Savings.com brings in $4M for online coupon service
Previous Story: Apple hits 10 million iPhone goal early — its stock fails to notice
About the Author, Camille Ricketts
Camille is the lead writer for GreenBeat. She came to VentureBeat from Google where she worked on its traditional platforms team, particularly in TV. Before that, she was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in New York and London. Follow her on Twitter at @camillericketts, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.
With GreenBeat 2009, VentureBeat's all-star conference on all things Smart Grid, coming up in November, Camille will be expanding coverage of this exciting space. Stay up to date by following @greenbeat2009 on Twitter or by becoming a fan of the event on Facebook here.