RISC-V leader to use funding to expand global reach, product platform 

SAN MATEO, Calif. – May 8, 2018 –  SiFive, the leading provider of commercial RISC-V processor IP, today announced that Intel Capital participated in its recent Series C funding round. The investment was revealed at the Intel Capital Global Summit, at which SiFive CEO Naveed Sherwani pushed for the democratization of the semiconductor industry.

SiFive’s hardware designs leverage the body of software and tools available from the open-source community under the guidance of the  RISC-V Foundation, dramatically reducing the cost of developing custom silicon. RISC-V was born from the dire need to address the skyrocketing cost of designing and manufacturing increasingly complex new chip architectures. System designers can use the SiFive Freedom platforms and DesignShare catalog to focus on their own differentiated processor without having the overhead of developing a modern SoC, fabric or software infrastructure.

“We have long led the call for a revolution in the semiconductor industry, and believe SiFive, and our technologies, demonstrate a significant path forward for the industry,” said SiFive CEO Naveed Sherwani. “This investment by Intel Capital will enable SiFive to empower any individual or company to produce a silicon solution that meets their needs, quickly and affordably.”

“RISC-V offers a fresh approach to low power microcontrollers combined with agile development tools that have the potential to help reduce SoC development time and cost significantly,” said Raja Koduri, senior vice president of the Core and Visual Computing Group, general manager of edge computing solutions and chief architect at Intel Corporation. “SiFive’s cloud-based SaaS approach provides another level of flexibility and ease for design teams, and we look forward to exploring its benefits.”

In April, SiFive announced it had raised $50.6 million in Series C funding led by existing investors Sutter Hill Ventures, Spark Capital and Osage University Partners, as well as new investors Chengwei Capital, Huami, SK Telecom and Western Digital.

About SiFive

SiFive is the leading provider of market-ready processor core IP based on the RISC-V instruction set architecture. Led by a team of industry veterans and founded by the inventors of RISC-V, SiFive helps SoC designers reduce time-to-market and realize cost savings with customized, open-architecture processor cores, and democratizes access to optimized silicon by enabling system designers to build customized RISC-V based semiconductors. SiFive is located in Silicon Valley and has venture backing from Sutter Hill Ventures, Spark Capital, Osage University Partners and Chengwei Capital, along with strategic partners Huami, SK Telecom and Western Digital. For more information, visit  www.sifive.com

About Intel Capital

Intel Capital invests in innovative startups targeting artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, workload accelerators, 5G connectivity, virtual reality and a wide range of other disruptive technologies. Since 1991, Intel Capital has invested more than $12.3 billion in 1,530 companies worldwide, and more than 660 portfolio companies have gone public or been acquired. Through its business development programs, Intel Capital curates thousands of introductions each year between its portfolio executives and Intel’s customers and partners in the Global 2000. For more information on what makes Intel Capital one of the world’s most powerful venture capital firms, visit  www.intelcapital.com