Celtic House Venture Partners Leads Follow-On Investment in Fresco Microchip

TORONTO , Oct. 8 /CNW Telbec/ - Celtic House Venture Partners has led a $10 million Series "B" growth capital financing round of Fresco Microchip. A fabless semiconductor company, Fresco is a leading supplier of television demodulator and IF processor components. The financing is being co-led by Ventures West with strong participation from existing large individual investors and management; and will be used to strengthen the company's working capital position in support of strong demand for the FM1100 family of products. Fresco's success reflects a sustained effort by Celtic House to develop industry leading companies with a focus on consumer video in the Toronto/Waterloo region.

"Customer response to our products has exceeded our expectations," said Lance Greggain, President, CEO, and co-founder of Fresco Microchip. "Television tuner module manufacturers worldwide place a high value on solutions that lower cost and enhance the overall consumer viewing experience. Our emphasis on system cost reduction, integration, and universal video/audio support has resulted in rapid adoption by many top tuner module makers."

"The Fresco team has been a major contributor to Celtic House both in the enhancement of our internal domain expertise in consumer video and in the continuous development of our investing strategy," said Celtic House Partner Brian Antonen. "We expect the company to play an influential role in the future direction of this industry."

Highly regarded in the television industry, the Fresco team was well known to Celtic House and its portfolio companies. Six of the top nine tuner can manufacturers are actively promoting or building tuners using Fresco's components for popular consumer platforms such as televisions, DVD-Rs, PVRs, and set-top boxes.

"The transition to fully integrated CMOS solutions reflects a fundamental shift in this market," said Tom Valis , Partner at Celtic House. "We are pleased to have the opportunity to work with one of the world's best mixed-signal design teams and bring a new class of solution to a global, billion dollar market."

Collaboration among many leading companies within the Celtic House network lowers market resistance, improves time to revenue, and reduces the risk for future investment projects. This effort has resulted in a cluster of world leading companies in many areas of consumer video including connectivity, portability, processing, security, and tuning/demodulation.

About Fresco Microchip

Founded in 2004, Fresco Microchip has established a team of technology, sales and marketing veterans in the TV semiconductor industry with strong track records, multiple design patents and long-standing customer relationships with the world's most recognizable and respected consumer electronic brands. The company is headquartered in Toronto , Canada , with design centers in Ottawa , Canada and Irvine, California. For more information visit: www.frescomicrochip.com.

About Celtic House Venture Partners

For over 15 years, Celtic House Venture Partners has been Canada's most active investor in private information and communications technology companies. Applying a unique architectural approach to investing and capitalizing on the deep domain expertise of its partners, Celtic House has consistently provided superior financial returns to its investors. With $315 million under management, Celtic House has collaborated with management teams and repeat entrepreneurs to develop platform technology companies from the inception phase through to exit, generating over 20 initial public offerings and successful acquisitions. For more information, please visit www.celtic-house.com.

For further information: Media Contact for Celtic House: Tomas Valis, [phone]; Media Contact for Fresco: Bob Menzies, Lages & Associates, [phone]