Calxeda Secures $55M to Cut Data Center Power

Austin-based chipmaker Calxeda has secured $55 million in additional funding, one of the largest semiconductor capital deals this year. Austin Ventures and Vulcan Capital led the funding, in addition to participation by the firm’s existing investors.  

Calxeda, which claims to have invented the concept of using ARM (News - Alert) technology to cut data center power, plans to use the funding to accelerate adoption and innovation in the emerging market for ultra-low power scalable computing, according to Barry Evans, cofounder and CEO at Calxeda. 

“This significant infusion of capital will accelerate the exciting trajectory we’ve been on for the past four years,” Evans said in a company statement. “Businesses require a more efficient solution for the Web, Cloud, and Big Data.  That is what Calxeda is now delivering and this funding will enable us to go bigger and faster.”

The company employs over 100 people, with offices in Austin and Silicon Valley and subsidiaries across Asia.

Calxeda officials claim that performance testing and power measurements conducted by third parties confirm the company’s initial projections: Calxeda provides up to a tenfold improvement in energy efficiency compared to today’s commodity X86-based servers.

The market is ripe for data centers looking to become more power-efficient while reducing costs.

“In the time since we first met Calxeda, they have executed exceptionally well, and the market has begun to embrace disruptively power-efficient datacenter architectures,” said Clark Jernigan, venture partner at Austin Ventures.  “Calxeda has also demonstrated solid customer traction across several key end user segments, and we are very excited to join their already impressive investor group.”

In addition, Steve Hall, managing director at Vulcan Capital, said he is impressed with the innovative approach and completeness of Calxeda’s vision.

“Calxeda thinks like a solution company, aligning their technology to solve the bigger challenges. They aren’t just chip guys,” he said.

In July, Boston Limited, a manufacturer of high-performance, low-powered server, storage and clustered solutions, began manufacturing the worldwide distribution of its Viridis server, based on Calxeda EnergyCore SoC (System on a Chip) leveraging ultra-low power ARM processors.