Kandou Raises $92.3 Million in Series C Funding

Investment Used to Bring USB-C Multiprotocol Retimer Solution with USB4 Support to Market, Ongoing Development of Chord Signaling Technology, Glasswing SerDes IP

Lausanne, Switzerland –– November 17, 2020 –– Kandou, an innovative leader in high-speed, energy-efficient, chip link solutions, today closed its Series C round of funding, resulting in $92.3 million raised in the round.

Participants in the funding include both existing investors, led by Bessemer Venture Partners, and two new investors, Climb Ventures, and Swiss Select Opportunities managed by Flexstone Partners. The total investment in the Company to date is $132.8 million.

Proceeds from Series C will be used to bring Kandou’s first silicon product known as Matterhorn, a USB-C® multiprotocol retimer solution with support for USB4™, to market to enable consumer and networking applications for electronic devices. Additionally, funds will be used for ongoing development of Chord™ signaling technology and Glasswing™ ultra-short reach (USR) SerDes intellectual property (IP).

“This round of funding will enable us to meet growing customer demand for Matterhorn as we continue to innovate and deliver high-speed connectivity solutions,” remarks Amin Shokrollahi, Founder and CEO of Kandou. “We thank Bessemer Venture Partners for its ongoing commitment to us and welcome investors Climb Ventures and Swiss Select Opportunities.”

“In my 41 years in venture capital, I haven’t seen a semiconductor technology as fundamental as Kandou’s proprietary inter- and intra-chip connected technology since the advances in microprocessors in the late 70s,” says Felda Hardymon, Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. “In the next decades, we will measure digital advances by their ability to move lots of data rather than by their ability to do mathematics fast. Kandou will provide many of the building blocks for that future. Bessemer Venture Partners is proud to be part of the Kandou team.”

“Kandou is one of the most promising startups in the Swiss ecosystem,” says Dominique Pitteloud, Managing Partner at Climb Ventures. “Under the leadership of Amin Shokrollahi, a true entrepreneur, Kandou’s vision is to disrupt computing interconnect, with multiple deep innovations, in large existing markets.”

“Kandou is a perfect example of the type of Swiss based growing technology companies that the recently launched Swiss Select Opportunities program is aiming at supporting,” says David Arcauz, Managing Partner at Flexstone Partners in Geneva.

About Climb Ventures

Climb Ventures is a noted Growth Ventures firm for Swiss and global digital transformation projects. Its investments range from emerging technologies, venture startups to late stage projects in digital services and consumer internet.

About Flexstone Partners

Flexstone Partners (“Flexstone”), an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers, is a leading investment solutions provider in private assets with a global reach and local footprints in New York, Paris, Geneva, and Singapore. It specializes in the selection of private equity, private debt, real estate, and infrastructure fund managers for investment by Flexstone’s clients.

About Bessemer Venture Partners

Bessemer Venture Partners is the world's most experienced early-stage venture capital firm. With a portfolio of more than 200 companies, Bessemer helps visionary entrepreneurs lay strong foundations to create companies that matter and supports them through every stage of their growth. The firm has backed more than 120 IPOs, including Shopify, Yelp, LinkedIn, Skype, LifeLock, Twilio, SendGrid, DocuSign, Wix, MindBody, and Fiverr. Bessemer's 16 investing partners operate from offices in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, New York City, Boston, Israel, and India. Learn more at bvp.com.

About Kandou

Kandou, an innovative leader in high-speed, energy-efficient, chip-to-chip link solutions critical to the evolution of the electronics industry, is revolutionizing wired connectivity with greater speed and efficiency. It enables a better-connected world by offering disruptive technology through licensing and standard products for smaller, more energy efficient and cost-effective electronic devices. Kandou has a strong IP portfolio that includes Chord™ signaling adopted into industry specifications by JEDEC and the OIF. Kandou offers fundamental advances in interconnect technology that lower the power consumed and improve performance of chip links, unlocking new capabilities for customer devices and systems. Kandou is a fabless semiconductor company founded in 2011 and headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, with offices in Europe, North America and Asia.

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