Montalvo Systems
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Montalvo Systems is a Silicon Valley start-up reportedly working on an asymmetrical, x86 capable processor similar to the Cell microprocessor. The processor will use high-performance cores for performance-intensive threads, and delegate minor tasks to the simpler cores to save silicon and power.[1] Matt Perry, former Transmeta CEO, serves as CEO and president of Montalvo; Peter Song, founder of failed x86 manufacturer MemoryLogix, serves as chief architect. Another founding member, Kevin Lawton, of bochs (x86 emulation) and plex86 (x86 virtualization) fame, was the processor simulator architect, but has since left the company.
The official description of business from Montalvo's security filings[2] is:
A fabless semiconductor company developing ultra low-power system-on-chips for mobile devices.
As of 24th April 2008, Sun Microsystems has acquired the company for an undisclosed sum.[3]
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[edit] Locations
Headquarters are in Santa Clara, California, next door to the remnants of Transmeta, and nearby to Intel and Sun. It has offices in Boulder, Colorado and Bangalore, India. According to news reports, it has close to 300 employees.
In March 2008 news broke that Montalvo was seeking funds to avoid shutdown[4]. According to a news article released on March 31st, Montalvo had laid off two-thirds of its engineers. At the same time, rumors surfaced that Sun Microsystems was in talks to buy Montalvo[5]. About three weeks later, on the 24th April 2008, The Register confirmed the rumours to be true.[3]
[edit] Finances
From the Cal-EASI database[2], the following info is available about Montalvo's financing.
| Date | Type | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005-05-03 | Series A | $1,997,751.36 | non-money, assumption of previous company's financing? |
| 2005-05-03 | Series A | $4,548,247.70 | |
| 2005-10-11 | Warrants | $302,000.00 | |
| 2005-10-24 | Series A | $9,548,247.70 | |
| 2006-03-10 | Series B | $26,299,998.53 | |
| 2007-08-29 | Bridge | $11,607,573.06 | subordinated convertible promissory notes |
| 2007-12-17 | Bridge | $20,000,000.00 | subordinated convertible promissory notes / warrants |
[edit] News
- 2008-04-24 Sun buys low-power x86 disaster Montalvo
- 2008-04-03 Sun Microsystems could use Montalvo as a strategic lever against Intel
- 2008-04-01 Sun close to buying Intel would-be competitor Montalvo
- 2008-03-31 Montalvo Systems cuts two thirds of staff
- 2008-03-31 Rumor: Intel competitor Montalvo bracing for cuts
- 2008-03-20 Montalvo seeking a hoard of cash to avoid shutdown
- 2008-02-18 VIA Continues Transition From Chipsets To CPU To Profitability. Skeptical on Montalvo X86 Chip Success
- 2008-02-15 Montalvo, a competitor of Intel and AMD, not yet born and already in trouble
- 2008-02-14 Secret recipe inside Intel's latest competitor
- 2008-02-13 Cash-burning Montalvo tapes out Silverthorne rival
- 2008-02-06 Silent start-up readies to take on Intel in notebooks
- 2007-06-05 Montalvo CFO leaves and joins Agami Systems
- 2006-08-25 Is that a VMware CTO and Transmeta CEO at your start-up?
- 2006-08-19 Former Transmeta CEO goes at Intel with another low-power chip
- 2005-10-27 Chip start-up Montalvo looks to speed mobile devices
