Ember, a developer of wireless semiconductor solutions and ZigBee™ Alliance promoter, today announced it closed an additional $25 million in funding, led by Vulcan Capital, the investment group of Paul G. Allen. Joining Vulcan in this latest round are new strategic investors ChevronTexaco Technology Ventures, Hitachi Ltd. and WestAM. Existing investors Polaris Venture Partners, DFJ New England, GrandBanks Capital, RRE Ventures and DFJ ePlanet Ventures also participated in the round, bringing the total capital Ember has raised to $53 million. CIBC World Markets served as financial advisor to the company for this round.
Ember also announced that Bob Metcalfe, father of Ethernet, founder of 3Com, and now Polaris Ventures partner, will become the new chairman. Outgoing board chairman and Ember co-founder, Robert Poor, will focus on researching new technologies and evangelizing Ember’s message in business and industry forums.
According to Poor, Metcalfe’s appointment to company chairman is perfectly timed as the company transitions from startup mode to a well-established market leader with real customers and proven technology. “As Ember continues to experience strong, sustained growth, Bob’s reputation and experience is a tremendous asset at this stage of Ember’s evolution.”
“I see parallels between ZigBee and Ethernet,” said Metcalfe. “As Ethernet has connected millions of computers, Ember’s technology has the potential to network-enable billions of devices that previously couldn’t communicate. The company’s early commitment to ZigBee will further accelerate the adoption of Ember’s wireless mesh network solutions in the marketplace.”
With a large influx of new customers, distributors, partners and employees, Ember also announced it will relocate its corporate headquarters to 343 Congress Street in Boston to support its fast growth and expansion. In addition, Todd Miceli joins the company as its new chief financial officer rounding out Ember’s management team.
Investors are excited about Ember due to the potential of its embedded wireless network technology, which is helping to create an “Internet of things” by enabling billions of devices to support low-cost, low-power networking applications in any industry. Ember is also committed to standards-based solutions, exemplified by its role as lead promoter of ZigBee. The market for low data rate, low power networking devices like Ember’s will grow 47.4 percent between 2003 and 2007, from just over $1 billion to $8 billion in component revenue, according to the Wireless Data Research Group.
“Of the more than eight billion microcontrollers built into products every year, less than two percent are network-enabled,” said Steve Hall, director at Vulcan Capital, who joined Ember’s board in conjunction with the financing. “That’s an enormous opportunity for Ember as companies realize the advantages of linking microcontrollers into monitoring and control networks. We believe Ember’s seasoned executive team and substantial customer traction have well positioned the company to be the market leader in the space.”
Ember’s solutions replace expensive, inflexible wired networks with self-healing and configuring wireless networks in a wide range of applications such as home control, building and industrial automation, cold chain monitoring and infrastructure security. Ember’s chip architecture is the IEEE 802.15.4 “golden suite” on which Zigbee-based wireless semiconductors are judged for interoperability and standard compliance.
“Ember is ramping up volume business now with real customers in real deployments,” said Jeff Grammer, Ember’s CEO. “We’ve established a global ecosystem of solutions and partnerships to give OEMs a fast and sure way to jump into this exciting new market. Having such marquee investors backing us is tremendous validation for our company’s vision.”
About Vulcan Capital
Vulcan Capital is the private investment group of Vulcan Inc., the project and investment management company founded by Paul G. Allen in 1986 to manage his personal and professional endeavors. Vulcan Capital oversees a multibillion-dollar portfolio across diverse industry sectors and investment asset classes. Its investments range from early stage venture investments to public equity value investing, leveraged buyouts, acquisitions, and distressed situations. Visit Vulcan Capital online at capital.vulcan.com.
About WestAM
WestLB Asset Management (USA) LLC is the Private Equity Group of WestAM. The Private Equity Group of WestAM is based in Chicago with offices in New York and Los Angeles. Through separate accounts and funds-of-funds, the Group manages nearly $3 billion in institutional commitments to private equity with portfolios of venture and buyout partnerships and direct investments in portfolio companies. WestAM is the global investment management arm of WestLB AG, one of Germany’s largest banks. WestAM has investment management operations in the US, Europe, Japan and Australia. As of June 30, 2004, WestAM managed a total of US$51 billion for more than 500 institutional clients around the world. Additional information can be found at www.westam.com.
About CTTV Investments LLC
CTTV Investments LLC, a subsidiary of ChevronTexaco Technology Ventures LLC, makes equity investments in early startup-stage, new technology companies. ChevronTexaco Technology Ventures LLC is involved with identifying and investing in new and emerging technologies that have the potential to enhance the performance of ChevronTexaco affiliated businesses and lead to new growth opportunities. Based in San Ramon, Calif., ChevronTexaco Corp. is the second largest U.S.-based energy company and the fifth largest in the world, based on market capitalization. For more information about ChevronTexaco Technology Ventures, visit www.chevrontexaco.com/technologyventures.
About Hitachi Ltd.
Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT/ TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company, with approximately 326,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2003 (ended March 31, 2004) consolidated sales totaled 8,632.4 billion yen ($81.4 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors, including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials and financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company’s Web site at http://www.hitachi.com.
About Ember Corporation
Ember Corporation develops wireless semiconductor solutions that help buildings consume less energy, manufacturing plants run with fewer breakdowns, and the country’s borders and infrastructure remain safe and secure. Its vision is to help create an “Internet of things” by enabling the eight billion
microcontrollers built into products each year to support low-cost, low-power networking applications in any industry. Headquartered in Boston with offices and distributors worldwide, the company was named one of Fortune Magazine’s top “Cool Companies” for 2004. For more information, please visit www.ember.com.
