Chief Executive Kurt Busch says he’s aiming for a public listing of his chip startup Syntiant Corp. by 2027.
Irvine-based Syntiant’s latest tech advance is the new NDP250 chip that works five times faster than previous models, the company said, for uses including person detection, automatic speech recognition and motion tracking, among others.
“The first quarter exceeded plan and this year looks like it’s going to be another year of north of 100% growth,” Busch said.
Busch said the current plan is to go public via an IPO, rather than the reverse merger path increasingly favored by some companies in recent years.
“Our goal is to be public by 2027,” Busch told the Business Journal on April 9. He is also the company’s co-founder.
Syntiant has already raised more than $120 million in financing.
It is backed by several of the world’s leading strategic and financial investors including Intel Capital, Microsoft’s M12, Applied Ventures, Robert Bosch Venture Capital, the Amazon Alexa Fund and Atlantic Bridge Capital.
50 Million
“We have more than 30 customers in production today,” Busch said. “We expect to double that number by the end of this year.” Syntiant said more than 50 million devices deployed use its technology.
The company’s various chips detect voices for products such as Amazon Alexa, including custom wake words and commands, and have been extended for more audio, visual and sensing detection.
Busch said last May that Syntiant is already in the Ring Alarm Glass Break Sensor system.
The company has also developed uses for smoke detection and fire detection.
Its chips use only tiny amounts of power in a whole array of devices and are quick to react.
The chips can be used to aid in license plate recognition and the detection of door tampering.
3rd Generation
Syntiant’s new NDP250 is the third generation of what are called neural decision processors, with improvements including lower power use and greater privacy.
It can bring powerful artificial intelligence to battery-powered, always-on vision applications in automotive security, appliances, cameras, smart displays and video doorbells.
The company displayed the new NDP250 chip at the at Embedded World Exhibition and Conference earlier this month in Nuremberg, Germany.
Busch calls the NDP250 its “fastest, highest-performing chip yet.”
“This device adds both language and image to our portfolio,” he said. “It’s quite a lot more horsepower. It’s sampling now and will be in production next year.”
A publicly traded Syntiant would add to the growing semiconductor hub in Orange County.
In the concentration are upstarts automobile-focused Indie Semiconductor Inc. (Nasdaq: INDI) of Aliso Viejo and Mobix Labs Inc. (Nasdaq: MOBX) of Irvine. Busch sits on the Mobix Labs board (see the April 15 print edition of the Business Journal for more).
Locally Processed
The Syntiant chips process information locally—called at the edge—saving time and money, rather than being routed through cloud computers.
The artificial intelligence-focused company added real-time monitoring of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms to its popular detection system for the sound of breaking window glass.
Syntiant has also developed and trained specialized edge AI models that enhance vehicle safety and security, from red light and green light detection to tailgating detection.
Veteran of the OC Tech Scene
Syntiant Corp. Chief Executive Kurt Busch earned his Bachelor of Science degrees in electrical engineering and biological science from the University of California, Irvine, and was inducted into the university’s Engineering and ICS (Information and Computer Sciences) Hall of Fame in 2015.
Before Syntiant, he was president, chief executive and a member of the board of directors at Irvine-based computer network products maker Lantronix Inc. (Nasdaq: LTRX).
He also served as a senior vice president and general manager of a high-performance analog business unit of Newport Beach-based Mindspeed Technologies, which was acquired by Macom.
Prior responsibilities included technical sales and marketing roles at Analog Devices, Intel and Digital Equipment Corp.
