<article>US chip design firm Ambiq Micro has raised a $28-million Series E round from investors that include Singapore&#8217;s EDBI.</article>

US chip design firm Ambiq Micro has raised a $28-million Series E round from investors that include Singapore&#8217;s EDBI.
This will be Ambiq&#8217;s third financing round this year, following a $34.1-million round in January and an $11.4-million round in June. Its other investors include Kleiner Perkins, Fujitsu, Panasonic and ARM.
Founded in 2010, Ambiq Micro develops ultra-low power chip designs that address battery life-related pain points in wearables such as smartwatches and fitness trackers. The Austin-based firm claims that its processors deliver more than 10 times the energy savings and longer battery life compared to competitors.
Proceeds from the latest funding round will be used to explore new applications in AI and industrial IoT in Singapore. Ambiq plans to integrate its chip designs into smart sensors, especially in gas pipes and mass rapid transport systems. It also plans to partner EDBI to set up an applications centre in Singapore, which will comprise a solutions engineering team to support regional customers.
&#8220;We see opportunities going beyond an applications and design centre. Singapore is also a good place for high-quality fabrication, which will be increasingly important for us once we go into high-quality manufacturing like autonomous driving products,&#8221; said Ambiq Micro chairman and CEO Fumihide Esaka. 
Ambiq Micro will also use the proceeds to further develop voice AI capabilities and real-time translations for wearables. Its customers include Huawei and Fossil.
EDBI&#8217;s investment in Ambiq Micro falls in line with Singapore&#8217;s Smart Nation Initiative, which aims to transform sectors and industries through technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data. 
EDBI&#8217;s recent investments in this space include Joby Aviation, an electric mobility company from Santa Cruz, California, and Magic Leap, an augmented reality company from Florida.
As Singapore’s strategic investor, EDBI focuses on investments in information and communications, healthcare and emerging technologies.
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<a href="https://media.dealstreetasia.com/uploads/2018/10/Fumihide-Esaka-headshot.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-110250 size-large" src="https://media.dealstreetasia.com/uploads/2018/10/Fumihide-Esaka-headshot.jpg?resize=580,387" alt="" srcset="https://media.dealstreetasia.com/uploads/2018/10/Fumihide-Esaka-headshot.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https://media.dealstreetasia.com/uploads/2018/10/Fumihide-Esaka-headshot.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://media.dealstreetasia.com/uploads/2018/10/Fumihide-Esaka-headshot.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://media.dealstreetasia.com/uploads/2018/10/Fumihide-Esaka-headshot.jpg?w=1280 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a>
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QuickBites: Fumihide Esaka, Chairman &amp; CEO of Ambiq Micro
Are you profitable yet? What’s your path to profitability looking like?
We are not profitable yet, but we’re expecting to be profitable in Q4 2019. We are in a growing stage. We’re still paying a premium from the wafers we purchase from TSMC, and the services we receive from ASE because our volume orders are low. But we’ve hit an inflexion point recently, where it’s translated into our volumes and future growth forecasts. Our customers and clients are also seeing the value in our technology.
What is your exit route going to look like?
If you asked me a year ago, the best way would be for us to be bought. Today, we have a goal to make profitability really quickly. We expect our revenue to keep doubling each year. I believe an exit will be the option of being bought with an extremely high value or IPO. 
Has any company made an offer to buy you out?
We’ve tried not to entertain such requests. Our biggest shareholders are VCs like Kleiner Perkins, so we have a certain exit strategy in mind, but not a premature exit one while our valuations are still low. We believe that the value of this company will be 5-6 times more within the year or two.

Ambiq Micro and EDBI also plan to set up an applications centre in Singapore, which will comprise a solutions engineering team to support regional customers.

Singapore's EDBI backs $28m Series E round for US chip design firm

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Singapore's EDBI backs $28m Series E round for US chip design firm

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