June 9, 2008 – Freescale Semiconductor is spinning off its MRAM unit as a VC-backed independent company to expand its technology portfolio and accelerate its adoption in new applications, the company said in a statement.

Freescale will keep an equity stake in the new venture, EverSpin Technologies, with backing by VC firms New Venture Partners, Sigma Partners, Lux Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Epic Ventures. Freescale also will continue to develop embedded products based on the unit’s MRAM technology, which combines magnetic materials with conventional silicon circuitry to offer SRAM-like speeds with the nonvolatility of flash memory. EverSpin will take ownership of Freescale’s MRAM manufacturing assets in Chandler, AZ, a 200mm site where it first ramped its 0.18μm 4Mbit devices in mid-2006.

“Current Freescale MRAM products have strong traction in the market and Freescale has recognized that the business opportunity will increase with a focused, independent company,” said Steve Socolof, managing partner of New Venture Partners LLC, in a statement.

“The potential for MRAM to impact the way commercial and consumer devices are developed and brought to market is enormous,” said Saied Tehrani, chief operating officer of EverSpin Technologies. “The EverSpin team looks forward to expanding on the technical and market successes that we achieved within Freescale.”