Anadigm raises £10m in second round financing

Anadigm, the analogue semiconductor designer, has raised £10m in its second round of funding, which was led by 3i and included investors Quester and NIF.

Anadigm develops components such as resistors, capacitors and amplifiers on a single user-definable chip called a field-programmable analog array (FPAA). It has already supplied thousands of copies of its FPAA development software to electronics engineers, and has signed an international distribution agreement with Future Electronics, as well as with AMSC in Japan. The company believes that the market for analogue components could be worth up to $23bn.

Chief executive of Anadigm Mike Kay, said: “We have already built our core team and delivered commercial silicon to customers. This large funding injection gives us the working capital to develop our organisation fully for international commercial operations, and to implement the next phases of our strategy.” The company plans to establish a global distribution network.

This is a return investment for 3i and technology investor Quester. In February 2000, the two invested £3.2 in Anadigm’s first round of financing. NIF Ventures, the venture arm of Daiwa Bank, joins them in this round. Motorola also holds a minority stake in the company, in exchange for transferring key intellectual property rights.

Martin Robertson, an investment manager at 3i, said: “3i recognised Anadigm's strong management team and market potential at an early stage. We have been delighted with the progress made in the past 12 months and we look forward to working with such an exciting and forward thinking company.”