In Germany, Systemonic GmbH has secured $5.3m in venture capital and government-backed loan finance by emulating the US model of spinning technology ideas out of established university research projects. Systemonic stems from a project at the Dresden University of Technology focused on the design of a new generation of digital signal processor chips (DSPs). These chips are central to most wireless communication devices and Dresden University’s Professor Gerhard Fettweis has led a team developing a ‘flexible DSP architecture’ that enables DSPs cores to be customized.
Alexander Broule of Atlas Ventures, who led the investment, says this flexibility will enable users of DSPs to differentiate their products, making the new chip architecture highly desirable to wireless handset manufacturers. Atlas has provided half of the first round of capital, with the other half coming from the German government under a scheme to encourage new semiconductor firms in and around Dresden. Systemonic will also continue its close links with Dresden University and share its ongoing research results.
Broule says that a software version of the new chip architecture is already operating, and an initial proof of concept chip is scheduled for production within six months. Broule predicts that Systemonic will soon be considered as a highly attractive IPO candidate on the Frankfurt Neuer Markt.
