Press Release

Editorial contact:

Guy Robertson
Nanotech Semiconductor Limited
+44 7899 908 737
guy.robertson@nanosemi.co.uk

Led by Pond Venture Partners (“Pond”), this new round mirrors a successful partnership of the late ‘90s, with Microcosm Communications Ltd.

Gary Steele, Founder & CEO of Nanotech was also the Founder & CEO of Microcosm, sold to Conexant Systems Inc. of the US in January 2000 for approx. $160M. He noted "Pond were the first investors in Microcosm, and over the next 2 years they helped us steer a course of dramatic growth, from 5 to 50 staff and sales ramping from less than $2m per year to over $7m per quarter"

Richard Irving, Managing Partner at Pond said “The Microcosm story was a very successful one for the investors. The company was extremely efficient in its use of cash, taking in less than $8m of funding all told, and giving the investors nearly a twenty-fold return. Moreover with a relatively small amount invested by chip company standards, a substantial amount of equity stayed in the hands of the founders and employees, so everyone benefited”.

Commenting on the parallels with Microcosm, Richard added: “We believe we can achieve a similar result in Nanotech. Gary and his team have an excellent track record of execution, getting products right first time, into the market and selling typically in well under a year. This means we believe the Company burns far less cash than is the norm for chip companies, and one result is that the team’s stake in the business remains very high. For instance, around 25% of the company has been set aside for the Engineering team alone”. Richard Irving will join the board of Nanotech.

The new $1.2m will be used to help grow the team, currently standing at 14. “Having successfully completed our first 2 ICs for in-car communications over Plastic Optical Fiber we really need to beef up the customer facing side of the business: Applications Engineering, Sales and Marketing. A business like ours must be global in reach, and be best-in-class not just with our products, but in customer service and technical support”. Commented Gary Steele.

In addition to Richard, Brian Long, ex-Founder & CEO of Dublin based Parthus Technologies is joining the board of Nanotech as an investor and observer. “Brian brings a wealth of experience of the IC industry, having founded and run Parthus from 1993 through to an IPO on the LSE and NASDAQ. In 2002 he merged the company with the DSP division of DSP group to form Ceva Inc. the leading DSP licensor in the industry” said Richard Irving.

The Company anticipates closing a final funding round in 2005.