CEO, MENLO MICROSYSTEMS, IRVINE
Company spun out of General Electric’s Global Research Center to commercialize a new microelectronic component called the Ideal Switch. It claims the electronic switch—similar in respects to a semiconductor made by wireless chipmakers like Broadcom, but not the same type of technology—will be “the most disruptive technological innovation in the electronics industry since the advent of the transistor.” The company says the Ideal Switch is 99% smaller, lighter, and more efficient than conventional switches and electromagnetic relays.
THEN: “Our first year of revenue was last year,” Garcia told the Business Journal in early March, saying revenue was more than $8M. “We expect (revenue) to grow significantly this year,” he said, adding that “we expect to achieve profitability and cash-flow positive over the next few quarters.”
NOW: In March, Menlo Microsystems announced it had raised $150M, including an investment from the designer of Apple Inc.’s original iPhone. It brings its total funding to more than $225M.
FUTURE: Looking to build a new manufacturing facility with at least 160 jobs, and is being lobbied hard by New York to put the plant there. Garcia said “we do all of our product development” in Irvine and “our operations are centered here.”
IN THEIR WORDS: Of latest funding round, Garica said the “milestone underscores the confidence our investors have in Menlo Micro’s transformative technology to fuel the electrification of everything and modernize the $100+ billion market for RF communications, power switching and protection devices in the 21st century.”
