Irvine-based Menlo Microsystems Inc., one the of the better-funded companies linked to Orange County’s chipmaking industry, has joined the effort to return semiconductor production to the U.S.
The company’s CEO, Russ Garcia, promises a decision on the location of the firm’s new production facility for electronic switches by the end of this year.
The plant, which will hold at least 160 jobs, is a much-sought prize with New York, Texas and Indiana in the running.
Garcia says no decision has been made yet, but “we’re getting close.”
Ideal Switch
Menlo Micro’s flagship product is called the Ideal Switch.
Think of the Ideal Switch as a new, advanced iteration of the semiconductors used by local tech powerhouses like Broadcom and others to power smartphones, cellphone towers and other products, although Garcia says Menlo Micro doesn’t cleanly fall into the “chipmaker” segment of the tech industry.
The company claims the switch “will revolutionize energy distribution, wireless communications, defense and aerospace industries, and consumer electronics by making electronics smaller, faster, and more efficient and powerful.”
The company says the Ideal Switch is 99% smaller, lighter, and more efficient than conventional switches and electromagnetic relays. The technology was spun out of General Electric’s Global Research Center.
Menlo Micro in March announced a new infusion of $150 million in a Series C round, bringing its total cumulative funding to over $225 million.
OC HQ Staying
While Garcia says the company’s corporate headquarters will stay in Irvine, the new production facility probably won’t be in California.
“For the semiconductor industry, Orange County has been a great place for headquarters and design activity, not necessarily for fabs.” Garcia told the Business Journal on Oct. 4, using industry jargon for a fabrication site.
He added: “California is less conducive for manufacturing than some of the other areas.”
Menlo Micro is actively backing the movement to bring chip production back to the U.S., an effort helped by a more than $52 billion aid package signed by President Joe Biden in August.
Menlo Micro said Sept. 27 that it had joined the American Semiconductor Innovation Coalition in its effort to ensure that the funding provided through the CHIPS and Science Act will be effectively employed to advance U.S. semiconductor R&D leadership and improve the pathway from research to manufacturing.
As a member of ASIC, Menlo Micro will look to build on existing partnerships with ASIC members Purdue University and SUNY Polytechnic Institute to strengthen America’s STEM workforce and ensure top tech talent remains in the U.S.
“ASIC’s work to create tech hubs and bolster U.S. supply chains for our future economic prosperity and national security perfectly aligns with our goal to onshore manufacturing of Menlo Micro’s Ideal Switch technology to help strengthen America’s tech supply chains and facilitate the electrification of everything,” according to Garcia.
Irvine Development
Garcia said “most of our design engineering, engineering support, sales and marketing functions” will stay at the corporate base in Irvine.”
Menlo Micro currently has about 70 employees, up from approximately 45 at the end of last year, according to Garcia. More than 50 of them are in Irvine.
Overall “things are going well” for Menlo Micro, though the company is facing the same headwinds other firms are, according to Garcia.
He sees 2023 as a “pretty big year.”
“Being a new company, we’re still acquiring customers at a fairly rapid rate.”
