Nujira raises $12 million from latest funding round

Commenting, Nujira CEO Tim Haynes said: “As the world leader in Envelope Tracking technology, Nujira remains in an extremely strong market position, and we continue to lead the way both commercially and technologically. ET is fast becoming a mandatory requirement for smartphones, driven by the poor battery life of existing 4G handsets, and the need to support multiple LTE frequency bands for global adoption. We have been at the forefront of this technological shift, pioneering the development of ET over the last 10 years. This latest investment not only allows us to continue that development work, but also reinforces the growing value of our extensive ET patent portfolio.

Nujira announced the first commercial IC in its Coolteq.L product family of ET power supply modulators for mobile handsets in February 2012 at Mobile World Congress. The NCT-L1100 reduces wasted energy from power amplifiers (PAs) in mobile handsets by more than 50%, cutting heat dissipation and extending battery life. In April Nujira also announced the filing of its 150th patent relating to ET, emphasizing its dominant position in the ET intellectual property landscape.

Nujira’s patents cover not only the core technical breakthroughs that underpin Nujira’s high bandwidth, high efficiency Coolteq® ET modulator ICs, but also wider system elements. These include system architectures, timing alignment, linearization with or without Digital Pre Distortion, PA performance enhancement, system optimization, test & measurement, and production-line calibration techniques.

“Joining Nujira’s existing cleantech and technology investors at this pivotal time in the market adoption of Envelope Tracking is an exciting opportunity,” said Keimpe Keuning, Investment Director at SAM Private Equity. “With all major smartphone vendors poised to adopt ET in the next few years, Nujira’s world-leading technology and dominant patent position marks them out as the key player in this segment.”

Nujira is currently engaged with 16 major smartphone chipset suppliers to embed its ET technology into their reference platforms and expects its Coolteq.L technology to be designed into 4G smartphones in 2013.

Chris Taylor of Strategy Analytics commented, “Nujira is one of the leading players in ET. With the proliferation of different frequency bands for 4G, the increasing value and complexity of the RF front end is rapidly becoming a major factor in LTE smartphones. Envelope Tracking is a key technology for reducing the cost, footprint and power consumption in these advanced smartphones, where battery life and LTE frequency band support are becoming significant differentiators for OEMs. Our recent survey of transceiver vendors indicated that almost all 4G chipsets will support ET in future devices.”

Nujira’s latest investor, Zurich-based SAM, is a global investment boutique focused exclusively on sustainability investing. The firm’s offering comprises asset management, indexes and clean tech private equity. SAM partners with S&P Dow Jones Indexes in the publication and development of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes. Founded in 1995, SAM today has more than 100 employees and belongs to Robeco, a subsidiary of the Dutch Rabobank Group.