rohm-powervation from ul spinout to multinational · 2016-03-11 · • ugly • ip ownership is...

© 2015 ROHM Powervation Ltd.

ROHM-Powervation

From UL spinout to Multinational

March 10 2016

John Ryan VP Engineering & Operations

P. 1© 2015 ROHM Powervation Ltd.

• Powervation History

• Seed idea

• Funding

• Product Generations

• Market and Customers

• Acquisition by ROHM Company Limited.

• University Research Interaction

• MCCI

Agenda


● ROHM Powervation Field Office● ROHM Powervation Design Center● Customer Location●Manufacturing Location

Taiwan

(6 Team Members)

ShanghaiKyoto

WuhanNorth

CarolinaTexas

Silicon Valley

(10 Team Members)

Washington

& Oregon

Guadalajara

ROHM Powervation Locations & Customers Q1 2016

Ireland

(~30 Team Members)

Beijing

(1 Team Member)

Shenzhen

(2 Team Members)New

England

Wafer Fab

Packaging


• Fabless Semiconductor Manufacturer

• Fabless: Outsource all Fabrication of Product (Semiconductor “chips”)

• Capital Light; Expenses are primarily Salary and CAD tools in early phase.

• 100% of early phase work generally applicable to R&D tax credit

• Products are all in the power supply space for modern power hungry chips in Servers and Telco Equipment

• Spin out from University of Limerick 2007

• Idea came from Ph.D Project

• University funded initial IP development.

• Patents filed.

• 3 UL Researchers “spunout”

• Startup CEO Hired

• Angel funding raised Company Incorporated

• UL developed IP bought out 2007 with success fee on exit.

Powervation History


• Investors• Intel

• Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) through Venture Tech Alliance VC

• Scottish Equity Partners

• Braemer Energy

• 4LV/Cantor Fitzgerald

• Semtech (A Fabless Semiconductor Company)

• Enterprise Ireland

• Management

Funding

Series Date SEP Intel TSMC Braemer 4LV Semtech EI Management

From To

A Nov-07 Nov-09 42.60%

B Dec-10 Jul-11 21.80%

C Nov-12 Nov-13 27.25%

D Oct-14 Jul-15 8.35%

100.00%


• Generation 1: 2007-2010

• Most of Series A funding spent, neither a technical or commercial success.

• Reasons: startup inexperience of team, no “tier 1 teacher customer” identified.

• Investors worried, Management Team strengthened.

• “Startdown” a possibility.


• Teacher Customers: Intel and Cisco

• Technical and Commercial Success

• Revenue Ramp 2013-2015


• Technical Success

• Commercial ??

Development Timeline


$0.4

$0.8

$0.4

$1.9

$0.6

$3.1

2014 2018

AC/DC Isolated AC/DC DC/DC

Sources: IHS “The World Market for Digital Power – 2014” / Gartner 2013

CAGR~50%

Key Growth Drivers

($ in billions)

Including Discretes : $35B Total Power Semi

2014

Digital Power IC Opportunity Growing Rapidly

Regulator & Power Management ($11B) Digital Power ICs

Growing Power System Complexity

System Level & POL Efficiency

Precision Power Control

TTM:Ease of Design

Superior Dynamic Performance

DC/DC$4.0

PMIC$3.2

Linear/LDO$2.8

AC/DC$1.1

Digital Power IC’s

$0.6B

($ in billions)

$3B

$0.6B

Current ROHM

Powervation Focus


Customer Usage Example: Cisco

1x

>24x

>1000 ROHM Powervation Controllers per Cisco CRS-X Router

TDKModule

Carrier Routing System-X (CRS-X)

>40x


VR12.5 Solution Validated by Intel

Behind heatsinkBack-side of VRMs

PV3201 Used on Various Intel VR12.5 CRB


• Q4 2014 Revenue ramp sufficiently to support exit.

• Each quarter revenue in 2014 > sum of all previous quarters.

• Bankers chosen

• Roadshow December 14 resulted in 3 interested parties.

• January 15 Due Dilligence Started by ROHM

• First meeting had 4 Powervation employees and ~ 30 Rohm Employees and advisors!

• Acquisition closed July 2015

• ~ $70M plus nett cash.

• UL success fee as % of exit; Great result for University Research Sector.

• Post Acquisition

• ROHM investing heavily in Engineering Development in Cork

• 50% increase in employee numbers.

Exit Timeline


University Research Interaction


• MCCI organise Visiting Professor Program.

• World leading experts

• 1 week every 6 weeks available in Ireland

• Modest fee to Engage

• Great addition to talent pool

• For small company this is a big advantage.

Visiting Professor


• Funding Model where University Sector provides advanced research for a

problem specified by industrial partner.

• EI typically funds 80% of cost; Industrial Partner 20%

• Project Size 100k -500k range.

• Duration up to ~ 30 months.

• Very popular model for cooperation.

• Powervation engaged with MCCI since 2015

• MCCI developing new analog IP for Generation 4 (next products).

• Should complete H1 2016.

• If successful will be incorporated in 2017 Products.

Innovation Partnership


• Good

• Lower cost by leveraging University Research Sector.

• Good source of income for University. Builds up the talent pool in Ireland.

• Industrial partner can engage additional talent pool that may not be available for hire.

• Bad

• Schedules and targets not always seen as critical.

• Need project that can tolerate some delays and direction changes.

• Ugly

• IP ownership is not satisfactory

• Industrial partner can engage post project to procure a license to use.

• Not at all clear how pricing will be decided.

• There are no obvious ground rules for calculating value

• Objections are ignored, “State aid outlawed by EU” is the apparent reason.

The good, the bad and the ugly


• Ireland is a good location to build a Fabless Semiconductor Business.

• R&D tax credits make us competitive with respect to emerging economies.

• English speaking is major advantage.

• Engineering shortages are problematic. Solved by recruitment in EU.

• Presence in Silicon Valley is a requirement for success.

• University sector building skillsets that are complementary and accessible.

• Much discussed Cork airport not such a big issue as 90% of travel is long haul

to US and ASIA. Third daily flight to AMS would be good.

• Role of EI in early stage ? Many startups struggle with Legal and Financial

particularly tax planning for exit.

• Practical challenges in Cork

• High quality office space shortage

• Recruitment; where will they live ?

Last Thoughts

rohm-powervation from ul spinout to multinational · 2016-03-11 · • ugly • ip ownership is...

Documents