Stathera raises $35M to replace quartz timing chips with silicon
What's the deal? Montreal-based Stathera has closed a $35 million Series A to build silicon oscillators, the tiny components that keep processors in sync.
Maverick SiliconDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → led the round, joined by MediaTek VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Celesta CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and others.
Every chip needs an oscillator to set the pace of its calculations. Stathera merges two of them — the fast processor clock and a slower timekeeping device — into one.
The result cuts space requirements by up to 85% and lowers power use.
Why now? AI data centres now depend on keeping tens of thousands of processors synchronised, and that demands precision timing.
"For decades that timing has meant quartz, but Stathera is using semiconductor technology to move this foundational hardware to a new era of silicon," said co-founder and chief executive officer George XereasDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
The company will use the funds to ship its next oscillator generation and develop a third series built for AI chips.
What could go wrong? Silicon oscillators drift as temperatures shift, losing 30 signals per million for each degree Celsius of change.
Stathera says its design mitigates this, but quartz remains the industry default. Convincing chipmakers to switch is a tall order.
The signal: The backing reads as a strategic bet rather than a purely financial one: lead investor Maverick Silicon is a corporate, semiconductor-focused fund, and it is joined by chipmaker MediaTek VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → — exactly the kind of supply-chain insiders Stathera, now at breakout stage, needs to convince if silicon is to displace quartz at scale.
Read more: SiliconAngle
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