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Semiconductors - Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Tropian - Profile

HQ: Cupertino, CA

Founded: 1996

Management: Tim Unger is President and CEO. He was with Virtual Silicon Technology, U.S. Venture Partners and Cadence Design Systems. He is also founder of OnTrack Advisors. Dr. Earl McCune is Founder & CTO. He was with The Digital RF Solutions Corp, NASA Ames Research Center, Siliconix, HP, Watkins-Johnson and Cushman Electronics.

Founder/CT Dr. Earl McCune Goes With The Leroy Neiman Look. That's Cool.

Investors: In November 2005, the company raised a financing round where it did not disclose the amount but suggested that it was between $10M and $15M. It had previously raised four funding rounds and $80M. Backers are: Agilent Technologies, Bank America Securities, CDIB, Cipio Partners, Convergence Partners, CrossPoint Venture Partners, Merrill Lynch, TriQuint Semiconductor.

Business Model: In August 2005, the company unveiled a power-efficient and compact cell phone transceiver chip which it plans to ship in the first quarter of 2006. The radio chip can handle signals from various standards, including GSM and EDGE. If Tropian can be smaller, use less power and handle all the standards as it says it does, cell phone makers will buy it and stick it in their fancy new phones.

It's Pretty Straightforward

Competitors: RF Micro Devices, Analog Devices, and Skyworks Solutions.

Dirt: Tropian has had 3 lives. It started moons ago with a similar thought that it has today, but was ahead of its time, the hardware didn't exist. With the dotcom bust it turned to consulting, and in 2004 it reemerged to readdress its first thought. Tropian faces the nightmare of having to create a hopeful company culture. It has been around for so long without success that employees must expect further doldrums. That's why its new CEO is paid the big bucks.