Ambiq Micro Inc., a company that makes power-efficient processors for connected devices, today filed to go public. 

The chipmaker didn’t disclose how much capital it hopes to raise or at what valuation. Ambiq plans to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “AMBQ.”

In its IPO filing, the company disclosed that it lost $50.3 million on sales of $65.5 million in 2023. Ambiq’s loss narrowed to $39.7 million last year while revenue rose about 16% to $76.1. The company generated that revenue by shipping more than 42 million of its low-power chips to connected device makers.

Ambiq’s flagship product series is a family of systems-on-chip, or SOCs, called Apollo. The processors can be found in factory equipment, medical devices, wearables and a wide range of other devices. Ambiq ships the chips with development tools that help hardware makers build software for their Apollo-powered products.

The newest addition to the company’s chip line, the Apollo510, debuted last year. It features a central processing unit based on an Arm Holdings plc design and an artificial intelligence accelerator. There are also circuits optimized for cybersecurity tasks such as encrypting data.

The Apollo chip series is powered by a power management technology called SPOT. According to Ambiq, it enables chips to operate using five times less electricity than would usually be possible.

A processor performs calculations by turning its transistors on and off. To turn on a transistor, most chips run a current through it in the 0.8 to 1.2 volt range. In theory, transistors can be activated using half as much electricity or less. However, most chipmakers don’t take that route because it’s difficult to implement and complicates the processor manufacturing workflow.

Ambiq says SPOT overcomes those challenges. The technology allows the company’s chips to turn on their transistors using a fraction of the power usually needed for the task, which boosts energy efficiency.

The company plans to invest the proceeds from its IPO in product development. As part of the initiative, it will bring SPOT to more chips beyond the Apollo SoC family. Ambiq sees an opportunity to integrate the technology into power management chips, network processors and a range of other products.

It also will develop several new chip families optimized for low-power systems. One upcoming processor series, Atomiq, will be optimized for AI-powered connected devices. Ambiq also plans to launch a licensing program that will allow other companies to integrate SPOT into their chip designs.

Image: Ambiq Micro