Calxeda is a four year old startup that delivers an alternative to traditional x6 server chips in the form of stripped down microprocessors that offer a much bigger bang for your watt. Last year the company debuted a quad core SoC that requires only 5 watts to run and uses a mere tenth of that when idle.
Calxeda says its silicon is ideal for parallel environments where data is being crunched on a massive scale, and the VCs took the bait. This week the chipmaker received $55 million from Austin Ventures, Vulcan Capital and existing investors, rounding out the total funding the firm raised so far to approximately $110 million.
“This significant infusion of capital will accelerate the exciting trajectory we’ve been on for the past four years,” said Calxeda founder Barry Evans, who has served in technical positions at both Intel and Marvell. “Businesses require a more efficient solution for the Web, Cloud, and big data. That is what Calxeda is now delivering and this funding will enable us to go bigger and faster.”
Calxeda’s chips are based on 32-bit ARM designs, making them less efficient than 64-bit processors when handling more complicated workloads. The company plans on upgrading its current architecture within the next two years, and the new capital will help accelerate this goal.
Calxeda is picking up a lot of momentum, and not just in the financial scene. Among other things the startup supplies the chips for Hewlett-Packard’s Moonshot servers, which replicate the functionality of the highly-efficient boxes used by Google and Facebook to support their massive web presence.
Wikibon co-founder and principal Dave Vellante discussed this latest funding round and what it means for the industry during an interview on the SiliconANGLE News Desk (see below).
