STMicroelectronics, a Switzerland-based chip company, has launched its corporate venturing fund run by two of the company’s top managers.
Loic Liétar and Guy Lauvergeon are managing director and managing partner, respectively, of ST New Ventures, which will invest in technology, product and service start-up companies serving emerging markets where semiconductors are important, such as healthcare, clean-tech and smart infrastructure.
Liétar is president of Minalogic, the micro/nanotechnology and embedded software cluster in Grenoble, France, and for ST was previously in charge of strategy. He contributed to the creation of ST-Ericsson and Numonyx and to the establishment of the technology partnership with IBM.
Lauvergeon has spent 25 years at ST, most recently in its corporate strategic office, where he led the acquisition of Genesis, a US digital television public company.
In a joint statement they said: "We are excited by this new venture.
"In addition to financial investment, ST New Ventures will bring to its portfolio companies a deep comprehension of the semiconductor industry – from technology to products, manufacturing and markets worldwide – and the experience of how semiconductor can enable new applications."
Liétar added: "ST has always been pursuing aggressively emerging trends which have eventually led to major new market inroads for the company. Where and how silicon could be used today can go well beyond its recognized markets and applications. ST New Ventures is a formidable tool to bring a different angle to ST’s perspectives."