October 4, 2006 – Achor Semiconductor Inc., a developer of technology providing control of IC layout-to-silicon pattern transfer, has closed a second round of financing totaling $7.2 million, led by H&Q Asia Pacific. Funds will be used to “significantly grow R&D, applications engineering, sales and the marketing team,” the company said in a statement.

“From both a technology and business perspective, this is the right time for us to expand the company,” stated Chenmin Hu, president of Anchor Semiconductor. “DFM has moved from a technological concept to a product reality as chip designers struggle with lithographic problems while designing for 65nm and 45nm manufacturing processes. Clearly, chip design flows that large chip and integrated device manufacturers use will mandate the inclusion of DFM tools.”

Anchor, founded in 2000, counts Xilinx and TSMC, along with UMC and SMIC, among its customers of large IDMs, foundries, IC design firms and equipment vendors. The company’s NanoScope product line offers OPC/RET inspection, design verification, and yield analysis down to sub-90nm manufacturing processes.