At a breakfast seminar to discuss investment opportunities in the semiconductor sector held by technology corporate finance house FirstCapital, a panel of industry experts and venture capitalists concluded that the semiconductor sector was an attractive investment area for venture capitalists.

Matthew Trowbridge, CEO of Renesas Technology Europe, said that the large integrated device manufacturers are interested in innovative products from start-ups in order to meet the needs of their customers, e.g. car manufacturers or mobile phone handset makers. He said "There are a lot of opportunities for start ups in the new ubiquitous computing era. Products need a lot of collaboration from different technology providers. Nobody can go it alone."

There are also opportunities for companies addressing existing industry problems, in an environment where fabrication costs are spiralling and product lifecycles decreasing. Michael Risman, Director of Apax Partners said "We see opportunities for technology which will lower the barriers to market entry for chip companies, reducing the risk or costs of new product introduction, or reducing the time to complete in-house product development".

This bodes well for semiconductor companies seeking venture capital financing. However Stan Boland, CEO and President of Icera Semiconductor sounded a note of caution. He said "The semiconductor industry is a very capital intensive business. To show the types of returns a venture capitalist requires you must be addressing a pretty big market, and match the amount of investment required to the market size".

Hazel Moore, chairman of FirstCapital concluded "Venture capital funding of semiconductor companies has remained strong, which is particularly notable in the face of a generally weak funding environment. There are clearly still opportunities for talented management teams with strong customer propositions."

For further information contact: Hazel Moore, Chairman, FirstCapital on 020 8563 1563 or info@firstcapital.co.uk.