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Swiss Chip Startup Moves HQ to Huntington Beach

A well-funded Swiss chip startup has shifted its headquarters to Orange County.

BridgeCo Inc., which got its start as Switzerland’s BridgeCo AG, incorporated in the U.S. more than two years ago. But the company didn’t set up a base here until it leased a small Huntington Beach office late last year.

The company, which designs chips and software that help home audio devices wirelessly stream music over the Internet or home networks, has made the local office its functional headquarters.

BridgeCo’s office in Zurich, where it started in 2000, works on research and development.

“The board,as it realized this could become a global company,was on a mission to build a stronger U.S. presence,” Chief Executive Gene Sheridan said.

The company looked to OC to hire workers, including the recent additions of a technology chief and a head of engineering.

The Huntington Beach office, which has half a dozen workers, includes some Swiss executives.

“We felt that Orange County was better positioned for a tech startup in terms of talent,” Sheridan said.

The local office is set to have managers, sales, marketing and customer service and grow to about 20 workers.

BridgeCo has raised some $70 million in venture funding to date.

A few weeks ago, the company said it tacked on another $6 million to its fourth funding round, which saw a $17 million cash infusion in 2007 and $12 million in 2006.

BridgeCo indirectly competes with other chipmakers in the area, including Irvine’s Broadcom Corp. and Newport Beach-based Conexant Systems Inc., which make wireless networking chips for home electronics.

Its technology helps audio devices play music from Internet radio stations and songs stored on a PC or a portable digital music player.


For more on this story, see the March 9 edition of the Business Journal.

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