March 9, 2007 – Silicon Valley Technology Center (SVTC), a development foundry for silicon-based technologies, has announced it is now an independent company, having closed its previously announced purchase by two private equity firms. SVTC, formerly a business unit of Cypress Semiconductor Corp., was sold to Oak Hill Capital Partners and Tallwood Venture Capital. As part of the transaction, Cypress transferred substantially all equipment, process technologies, and personnel associated with its SVTC business to the buyers. Cypress will remain an SVTC customer.
“As a venture capital firm that seeks to invest in semiconductor and semiconductor-related companies, we consistently see entrepreneurs and their companies continuously challenged to find an acceptable vehicle to establish feasibility of their new technologies. SVTC offers the fabless community a partner model that will allow them to turn their silicon-based ideas into real products with superior cycle times, cost-effective development, and faster commercialization, in an IP-secure environment,” says Luis Arzubi, general partner of Tallwood Venture Capital.
SVTC provides engineering services accelerating silicon process development and commercialization of emerging semiconductor-based technologies in an IP-secure environment for innovative memory, logic, MEMS, and biotech customers.
The foundry says it is optimized for flexibility and fast experimentation from concept to proof-of-concept. It offers direct open access protocols that allow customers’ engineering staff hands-on process development on 8-in. equipment that is as advanced as the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors’ (ITRS) 65nm roadmap.
SVTC has a strong customer base, which includes companies working on emerging logic and memory products and MEMs companies. The investment by Oak Hill Capital Partners and Tallwood Venture Capital will allow the foundry’s management to invest in new equipment, address new markets, expand its engineering services, and pursue its plans to secure additional partnerships.
SVTC also says that Dave Bergeron, who recently served as executive-in-residence at Tallwood Ventures, is joining SVTC as chief executive officer. Bert Bruggeman, who developed the SVTC business model and grew it into a profitable enterprise, will become SVTC’s vice president of operations and general manager.