RF Magic Raises $24M Series C

RF Magic Inc. has joined the rush of fall fables semiconductor announcements with a $24 million Series C round.

RF Magic raised the round from strategic investors Conextant Systems (Nasdaq: CNXT), STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM) and EchoStar Communications (Nasdaq: DISH). Also, new private equity investors HamiltonApex Technology Ventures, Finaventures and Waypoint Ventures took part in the funding.

In addition, Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN), CMEA Ventures, Granite Ventures, Anthem Venture Partners, and Revolution Ventures, investors in prior rounds, participated in the Series C.

The new funding brings the total raised to date by the San Diego-based company to $39 million.

Eric Zimits, a managing director at Granite Ventures and a member of RF Magic’s board, co-led the previous $14 million Series B round into Granite together with Tom Baruch of CMEA Ventures.

Zimits says the participation of so many notable public companies and venture firms in the new Series C round is a reflection of investor confidence in the experienced team leading the startup.

Adding to investors’ enthusiasm for the startup is RF Magic’s horizontal approach to markets for its products. Zimits says that as opposed to other startups, which tend to focus on vertical or single 802.X opportunities, RF Magic is positioned to benefit from multiple markets for its chips and chip-sets in broadband communications.

The company would not disclose revenue or reseller relationships, but the new investors represent significant OEM sales opportunities for the startup. Doug Campbell, vice president of sales and marketing for RF Magic, says that the current round of investment will be used to create new products, pursue new markets, and to push deeper in its current market segments of satellite and fixed wireless communications where the company’s products are sold to larger firms that compete against DSL or cable modem providers of broadband services.

For example, target customers for RF Magic are companies such as Alvarion (Nasdaq: ALVR), an Israeli-based provider of broadband networking infrastructure products.

Campbell says that his firm is especially successful in markets such as China in which fixed phone line or cable systems are not yet in place to deliver broadband services and in which fixed wireless service providers can implement systems incorporating RF Magic’s products.

Email Jerry Borrell