Technology companies ARM and Cisco have joined the $2.4m seed round of funding for Ambiq Micro after it won a business plan competition in the summer.
DFJ Mercury, a technology-focused seed and start-up venture capital (VC) firm affiliated to the Draper Fisher Jurvetson network, led the round.
DFJ and computer server group Cisco picked Ambiq as the $250,000 winner from 16 finalists in their second co-sponsored Global Business Plan Competition for university and business school students. (See the pitch here on YouTube.)
The Frankel Commercialization Fund, a pre-seed/seed student managed investment fund established to identify and accelerate the commercialization of ideas and technology generated within the University of Michigan, was also part of the investment consortium, along with VC Huron River Ventures and angel investors.
Ambiq will use the money to expand its engineering, sales and marketing teams.
In the summer, semiconductor company ARM was part of a $48m series A round for Smooth-Stone, a US-based developer of chips for computer servers.