DecaWave gets a funding boost and plans to recruit new staff into its chipmaking fold.
Irish chipmaker DecaWave has raised $30m in funding and is to create 100 new jobs over the next three years.
This will bring to 150 the total number of employees at the company’s operations in Ireland, France, China and South Korea.
‘This location capability is key to driving efficiencies in industrial markets, designing new context-based user interfaces in consumer applications, guiding robots or building secure communication protocols’
– CIARAN CONNELL
The posts will be in engineering, R&D, sales and marketing, and applications, with recruitment already underway.
The latest investment round is led by Atlantic Bridge Ventures and includes participation from Enterprise Ireland, the China Ireland Growth Technology Fund, ACT Venture Capital and China’s ZZ Ventures.
Mapping the IoT universe
Dublin-based DecaWave offers ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless technology, which provides precise location and connectivity for applications to identify the specific location of any object, person or place within centimetres.
From enabling advanced analytics for factory automation, logistics and hospitals, to securing car access communication to delivering new forms of user interface in robotics and connected homes, the DecaWave technology has already revolutionised many industries.
Founded in 2007 by Ciaran Connell, CEO, and Michael McLaughlin, CTO, DecaWave has seen significant traction in the market, with more than 3,000 customers leveraging its UWB technology since launching its flagship product – DW1000 – in 2013.
The DecaWave technology is already in production at tier-one consumer and automotive customers, with more than 4m units sold to date.
“The adoption of DecaWave technology in high-volume consumer and automotive applications is a major milestone for DecaWave,” said Connell.
“Our vision has always been that our technology would play a key role in enabling the internet of things by accurately providing the ‘where’ functionality for applications.
“This location capability is key to driving efficiencies in industrial markets, designing new context-based user interfaces in consumer applications, guiding robots or building secure communication protocols.
“This funding allows us to accelerate our technology development to offer even tighter integration, lower power and more affordable solutions,” Connell said.
Global excitement around DecaWave’s technology was reflected in early December when it was selected as the Start-Up to Watch award-winner at the prestigious Global Semiconductor Alliance Private Awards Committee in California 2017. The awards see venture capitalists and select industry entrepreneurs identify a company that has demonstrated the potential to positively change its market or the industry through the innovative use of semiconductor technology or a new application for semiconductor technology.
The investment and jobs announcement was welcomed by the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys, TD.
“One of the key goals of our jobs strategy is supporting a strong indigenous enterprise base – in this instance, principally through Enterprise Ireland funding and support in Ireland and in international markets,” Humphreys said.
“The remarkable potential global impact of DecaWave is a striking example of how that strategy is succeeding. It is the archetypal emerging Irish technology company, developing disruptive technologies that are going to have a ubiquitous global imprint, and highlights the international standing of Ireland as a hub for smart technology companies. I am delighted to see the involvement again of the China Ireland Growth Technology Fund in supporting a scaling Irish company and accessing the gateway to one of the world’s largest markets, China.”
Updated, 1.53pm, 23 February 2018: The headline of this article was amended to correct a mistaken figure.
