Investors including AMD, Samsung and GlobalFoundries are set to exit US-based semiconductor technology developer Soft Machines in a $250m acquisition by chipmaker Intel, The Register reported on Friday.
Soft Machines licenses and co-develops architecture-based processor and system-on-chip products for the internet of things, mobile, networking and cloud computing industries. It claims its VISC (Variable Instruction Set Computing) technology will provide “unprecedented” performance efficiency levels.
Negotiations between Intel and Soft Machines have been ongoing for about a year and a deal has been done for about $250m, according to a source close to the talks.
The company said it has raised almost $175m since it was founded in 2006. It emerged from stealth in late 2014 with $125m from investors including semiconductor maker AMD and Samsung Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of electronics manufacturer Samsung.
Soft Machines’ other backers include semiconductor foundry GlobalFoundries, nanotechnology commercialisation organisation Rusnano, Russian state-owned fund-of-funds RVC, Saudi Arabian government-owned fund Taqnia and Saudi research organisation King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology.