Irvine-based chip startup Mobix Labs Inc., which focuses on next-generation 5G wireless communications and high-speed connectivity, is the latest Orange County company forging business ties with Australia.
Mobix Labs said Oct. 19 that it had opened a new design center in Sydney, the country’s largest city.
The center features a veteran team of engineers who have strong track records in the successful development and layout of radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs).
“Customers and partners are driving us really hard right now,” Chief Executive Fabian Battaglia told the Business Journal on Oct. 21.
“We’re in need of the R&D; resources and we’re recruiting globally.”
Battaglia says the technology capability specifically in the semiconductor and the RF space is growing in the Sydney area, calling the new design center a “perfect fit.”
The center is open now with four people hired by Mobix.
Kirby Lam, executive vice president of engineering at Mobix, also will be leading the new Sydney-based mmWave RFIC design center.
Aussie Ties
Other OC companies have also forged links with Australia of late.
Data analytics software maker Alteryx Inc. (NYSE: AYX) in Irvine said last month it had acquired Hyper Anna, a Sydney-based cloud platform for generating artificial intelligence (AI)-driven automated insights from data. Financial details were not released.
Also in October, BAI Communications, a global infrastructure provider based in Australia completed the acquisition of Newport Beach-based Mobilitie, one of the largest privately held telecommunications infrastructure companies in the U.S.
Cosemi Buy
For Mobix Labs, OC remains key to expansion.
“We still anticipate that Irvine will continue to grow,” Battaglia said of the company’s headquarters. “But we’re looking outside of Irvine as well because there is such a robust demand for the area that we’re participating in.”
He pointed to the company’s acquisition of Cosemi Technologies Inc., which specializes in super-fast active optical cables.
Battaglia said the combination of the Cosemi unit’s connectivity and the 5G wireless products provide “a nice match” in the automotive sphere.
“We’re finding some interesting automotive applications” in an area that is relatively new for Mobix Labs. “We spent some time in Detroit and looked at some applications and opportunities there.”
Cosemi said in December it plans to accelerate growth and address market opportunities after obtaining $8 million in a financing round led by Nitto Denko Corp. of Japan.
International Reach
In addition to its work in Australia, Mobix Labs said in June it had signed a supplier agreement with the China-based Wutong Group, one of the leading global suppliers of radio frequency connection systems.
“We’ve got really a global footprint in how to go to market, Battaglia said.
Mobix Labs has received $12.5 million funding to date, and Battaglia says he is looking “multiple capitalization strategies” for future growth. He said that could include more financing or “potentially an IPO.”
The company does have revenue after being founded just last year, but the amount has not been disclosed.
Mobix Labs has about 35 employees in OC with 58 companywide, according to Battaglia.
Its board chairman is former Microsemi CEO Jim Peterson.Â
