CEO, SYNTIANT, IRVINE
Syntiant’s low-power chips respond to voice and speech commands and can wake up a device like an Amazon Alexa, or have it perform a specific function. The company has also expanded its products to include sensor and image recognition, as well as other uses. Its tiny processors allow battery-powered devices to hear, speak, see and detect various sound, motion and light impulses in a wide range of consumer areas such as earbuds, wearables, smartphones, smart speakers, laptops, automobiles and other IoT consumer and industrial areas.
THEN: Founded in 2017, Syntiant said it had shipped more than 10 million of its NDP100 and NDP101 processors to customers across the globe as of early 2021. By March 2022, over 20 million chips— which it calls Neural Decision Processors—had been shipped. Syntiant chips, which use a tiny amount of energy when compared to current semiconductor standards, took on even greater importance during the pandemic with consumers increasingly insisting on touch-free devices.
NOW: Earlier this year closed on $55M in new funding, bringing the company’s total investment to more than $100M. Latest round of funding is expected to help the company expedite production deployments, while ensuring the firm has the financial backing to continue to expand operations as it approaches profitability in the not-too-distant future.
FUTURE: “Our plan is IPO,” according to Busch. “Future financings will be based on the market situation at the time.”
IN THEIR WORDS: Syntiant’s products make “edge AI accessible to any battery-powered device,” according to Busch, a Business Journal Innovator of the Year Award recipient in 2020.
