Rogers Venture Partners (RVP), the corporate venturing subsidiary of telecommunications company Rogers Communications, has invested in US-based memory technology producer Avalanche Technology as part of a $23m funding round.
VTB Capital, the venture capital arm of financial services group VTB, also took part in the round alongside Thomvest Ventures aand Vulcan Capital. The equity funding was raised alongside a “substantial” debt facility supplied by Horizon Technology Finance.
Although Avalanche has not confirmed it, the round is likely the same as the $25.3m in financing indicated by a securities filing in December 2015.
Avalanche is developing memory technology for customers in sectors including enterprise storage, wearable devices, internet of things, automotive manufacturing and computing/networking that it claims will offer superior speed, density, endurance and cost-effectiveness.
The funding will allow it to move from the R&D stage to commercialising and manufacturing its products later this year.
Will Stewart, general partner at Rogers Venture Partners, said: “Given its outstanding feature set, low-cost production model and ability to serve a broad range of applications, I am confident of Avalanche’s long-term success in the market.”
Assuming the round is the same as the December 2015 funding, Avalanche has now raised about $92m since it was founded in 2006, according to press releases and regulatory filings.
RVP invested $5m in the company a part of a $35m round closed in 2013 that also featured Qualcomm Ventures, which acts as mobile chip maker Qualcomm’s corporate venturing vehicle, as well as VTB Capital, Vulcan Capital, Thomvest Ventures, Sequoia Capital and Bessemer Venture Partners.
Qualcomm Ventures had already participated in an $11.5m Vulcan-led round in 2012 also backed by Sequoia, Bessemer and Thomvest.