Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Rusnano, the Russian government investment fund for nanotechnologies, is involved in a deal to back MRAM startup Crocus Technologies Inc. in a deal worth $300 million, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Crocus, originally founded in Grenoble in 2004, to commercialize magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) research conducted at the Spintec laboratory in Grenoble. The company has subsequently relocated its headquarters to Sunnyvale, Calif., but retains its engineering base in Grenoble.
The deal is for Crocus to form a Russian joint-venture to manufacture MRAMs, according to the Wall Street Journal, which quotes a Rusnano executive. Crocus has already received about $60 million in venture capital. It's VCs will put up another $55 million with Rusnano providing most of the rest of the $245 million.
Rusnano announced the MRAM project in April without disclosing the name of the partner. Rusnano said: "It will produce integrated circuits with 90-nm process technology for magnetoresistive memory, a promising type of nonvolatile memory whose characteristics resemble random access memory but which require considerably less electric power. Magnetoresistance memory can store data for a long period, even after turning off electric power supply."
Crocus currently has an agreement to use specialty foundry Tower Semiconductor Ltd. to make MRAMs for it on a 130-nm manufacturing process.
However, despite its huge theoretical wealth Rusnano has yet to develop a reputation as a solid microelectronics technology partner.
Rusnano is involved with Sitronics JSC (Moscow, Russia), parent company of Russia's leading indigenous chip company Mikron, and its on-again, off-again plans for a 300-mm wafer fab. Rusnano has also backing a deal to provide $700 million for Plastic Logic Ltd. to help it build a plastic electronics manufacturing line in Russia.
By: DocMemory
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