Pixelworks Inc, the Tualatin, Oregon-based producer of image processors for flat panel display (FPD) screens, has received $11.6m in a new round of venture funding to finance the development of its next generation of chips. The company boasts that the investment is among the five largest venture capital investments in the semiconductor industry in the past two years.
With the global market for FPD forecast to grow from $14bn last year to $29bn in 2004, Pixelworks claims to be in a leading position with its single-chip display controller, which it says is far cheaper than the alternative of several discrete components.
Pixelworks began with $1.25m of funding in June 1997 and this was augmented with a second round of $6.6m in April 1998. Mark Stevens, partner with Sequoia Capital, one of the leading investors, described Pixelworks as one of the bright young stars of the semiconductor industry.
