US-based chipmaker Micron Technology has reportedly revealed itself as a backer of Israel-based memory storage chip manufacturer Anobit, which sold to Apple in January, for a price which media reports put at as much as $500m.
Micron Ventures managing director Matt Freeman said to news provider Globes on 23 February: "We were surprised by the sale to Apple, although not by the acquisition. Anobit was a leader in the field, and I think that Apple understood that some of the technologies developed for them by Anobit had value that they did not want to fall into others’ hands."
Globes said Freeman added: "I certainly regret that we did not acquire Anobit before Apple did. It could have been a good option for us. You can always understand the true value of a company when there is talk in the hallway about the significance of buying it. After Anobit was acquired, we were asking ourselves if this was bad for us."
Finance website Crunchbase puts Anobit’s funding at $72m since its founding in 2006. Corporate venturing unit Intel Capital led the most recent funding round, which raised $32m in November 2010. Micron invested in this round, according to Globes.
Venture capital (VC) firm Battery Ventures and VC fund Pitango Venture Capital are also investors in Anobit, which produces flash chips for use in memory storage in the enterprise and mobile markets.