September 6, 2007 – XMOS Semiconductor, a UK startup developing a type of programmable semiconductor technology dubbed “software defined silicon,” has closed a $16 million Series A round of VC funding with support from Foundation capital, Amadeus Capital Partners, and DFJ Esprit.

The UK firm, founded in 2005, decloaked earlier this summer with its “software defined silicon,” which it says gives designers the unit cost advantages of SoCs with the flexibility of FPGAs. The event driven, multi-threaded processor engine, called “XCore,” incorporates an integrated pin control coupled with intercore communication link (“XLink”) to allow complete systems, including interfaces, to be implemented in software, the company explained.

The company now says silicon, dev tools, and software components will start sampling in 4Q07 and be broadly available in 1Q08, with devices priced in “the $1-$10 price range” targeting high-volume consumer electronics applications.