Celtic House Venture Partners Leads New Investment in Peraso Technologies

TORONTO , Oct. 5 /CNW Telbec/ - Celtic House Venture Partners has led a $10 million Series "A" financing round of Peraso Technologies, a fabless semiconductor company focused on the development of millimetre wave (mm-wave) transceivers. The funding, which is being co-led by iNovia Capital and VentureLink, will be used to develop and commercialize a family of SiGe BiCMOS and CMOS integrated circuits (ICs) that will deliver unprecedented wireless bandwidth with power and cost profiles that are suitable for consumer electronics applications. This is the second time that Celtic House has worked with Peraso's CEO Ron Glibbery. Ron was previously the CEO of Celtic House portfolio company Cogency Semiconductor. Cogency was acquired by Intellon Corporation (Nasdaq: ITLN) in 2004.

"Peraso's technical team have previously demonstrated radios at up to 140GHz . These are the fastest silicon radio circuits in the world," said Ron Glibbery. "I'm excited to be working again with Celtic House as our lead investor. Their deep domain expertise in consumer electronics and track record in the semiconductor sector, coupled with their unique architectural approach to venture capital, make them the perfect partner for Peraso."

"Peraso's team has proven start-up experience including commercial success in communication networking devices," said Celtic House Partner Brian Antonen. "The technical team is recognized as one of the top research groups in the world focused on mm-wave technology. We expect Peraso to take advantage of synergies with Celtic House's portfolio of consumer electronics-focused companies by leveraging their technology and customer relationships."

Peraso brings together leading researchers in the design of mm-wave ICs at the University of Toronto with a proven commercial execution team. Over the past six years Peraso's team has developed the fundamental building blocks required to bring this technology to a broad market.

"The 60 GHz spectrum has been available for several years, but only now can product be implemented in low cost semiconductor technologies," said Mr. Glibbery . "As a result, it is poised to become the universal playground for all high data rate consumer electronics devices."

"Millimetre wave technology is the next frontier in personal connectivity, and will affect all major consumer electronic application markets, including portable devices, personal computers and entertainment equipment," said Tom Valis , Partner at Celtic House. "We are pleased to have the opportunity to back a true platform technology company in an industry where we have had past success."

About Peraso Technologies

Peraso is a fabless semiconductor company focused on the development of mm-wave single-chip transceivers. Peraso's 60 GHz transceivers, compliant with emerging 60 GHz standards in the mobile consumer electronics market, are characterized by low power consumption, small footprint and optimal system implementation. For more information, please visit www.perasotech.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 Peraso: Ron Glibbery, [phone]