$48million invested in development of semiconductors for servers and data centres

The capital will be applied directly to the final development and market delivery of high performance, low power chips that Smooth-Stone claims will change the server market and the makeup of data centres. Funding partners include ARM, Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC), Battery Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, Highland Capital Partners and Texas Instruments. "This kind of investment, the amount, and the strength of this syndicate is a strong endorsement for the innovation we are bringing to market," said Smooth-Stone ceo Barry Evans. "We look forward to taking advantage of the insights and know-how of these industry leading investors." According to Evans, the company's semiconductors and software can provide a solution for companies where energy consumption by servers has become a constraining and expensive issue. This, he says, is achieved by increasing the density of computer resources, while conserving energy, cooling and space in the data centre. Battery Ventures general partner, Ken Lawler (pictured), added: "The necessity of finding more energy efficient server solutions for data centres has created an enormous and truly revolutionary opportunity for the industry. As a firm, we recognised from the beginning that Smooth-Stone had the innovative technology, the customer value proposition and the engineering and management capability to disrupt the web server landscape. Working with management, we've put together a unique investment structure and syndicate of both strategic and traditional venture capital investors that gives the company what it needs to succeed in this highly competitive market." "ARM invests in companies that are taking innovative approaches to solving industry challenges. Smooth-Stone's approach of bringing low power technology into the server domain made them a perfect fit for our investment model," said Bruce Beckloff, vice president of corporate business development, ARM. "There is a strong market need for a new class of data centre platforms that offer a significant improvement in performance from both the energy and density perspectives, and ARM is excited to support Smooth-stone's efforts to develop innovative chip solutions for this new class of platforms." With this investment, ARM continues its seat on the Smooth-Stone board of directors, along with Evans and an independent, Howard Bubb. The three vcs, Battery Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners and Highland Capital Partners, and ATIC, also join the board.