Nujira Raises $18 Million

Nujira, a UK-based provider of RF transmission for cellular and broadcast networks, has raised $18 million in Series C funding. BankInvest Group led the round, and was joined by return backers Amadeus Capital Partners, 3i, Cambridge Capital and Cambridge Angels.

 

PRESS RELEASE

 

Nujira, the leader in efficient RF transmission for cellular and broadcast networks, today announced the successful closure of an $18 million Series C round. The new funding enables Nujira to continue with the commercialisation of its CoolteqTM products for the cellular network and broadcast markets and to accelerate development of its revolutionary CoolteqTM handset silicon due to be launched during 2009.

Lead by a new investor: BankInvest Group, New Energy Solutions Fund, the round sees further investments from existing investors: Amadeus Capital Partners, 3i, Cambridge Capital and Cambridge Angels.

Poul Erik Schou-Pedersen, managing partner at BankInvest New Energy Solutions said: “BankInvest is actively investing to help bring highly efficient technologies to market and is delighted to add Nujira to its growing portfolio. The company’s products and value proposition challenge the traditional power efficiencies within the telecoms market. Nujira is engaged with major OEMs and has a strong pipeline supported by a clear, well managed strategy towards market leadership and long-term commercial success.”

Tim Haynes, CEO and Founder said “We are delighted to welcome BankInvest as an Investor in Nujira along with the existing investors who have supported us throughout our rounds to date. BankInvest not only brings commercial know-how but also has direct experience in this technology sector”. He added “Nujira has made tremendous progress in the past eighteen months. We are in negotiation with several more OEMs and this will bring our market coverage to almost 100% in the Cellular Infrastructure market, with TV Broadcast not far behind. In addition, we are starting to see the real value this technology has in the world of handsets and are predicting over 50% market penetration of the technology by 2012”

“The increasing environmental impact and cost of high power consumption of current 3G networks is a serious cause of concern for all operators,” said Ian Lobley, senior partner at 3i. “We are now seeing operators setting themselves hard targets for reducing the power consumption; efficiencies of at least 50% are required in order to achieve these targets. Nujira has a clear lead over other vendors in providing commercially available solutions to address this urgent need.”

Andrea Traversone of Amadeus Capital Partners commented: “Nujira has made significant progress in the commercialisation of its products with major cellular and broadcast OEMs by demonstrating the significant advantage of their CoolteqTM product over other technologies. They are now developing solutions for the next generation mobile handset market and first indications show that the scaled down technology will provide a compelling proposition for the next generation of 3G and 4G mobile handsets.”

Haynes continued, “The new round of funding will enable us to complete the commercialization of all of our planned Infrastructure products and accelerate Nujira’s entry into the handset market. The Wireless and Broadcast markets are now ready for Nujira’s products and the technology is set for primetime”

About BankInvest Group

BankInvest New Energy Solutions venture fund was established in 2002 by the BankInvest Group. Its two funds of more than € 150 million are dedicated to cleantech and energy solutions with a geographical focus on Scandinavia, Europe and North America. The team consists of 7 investment professionals with a strong track record in management, business development, technology and financing.

New Energy Solutions is part of the BankInvest Group, an asset management houseestablished in 1969 by a group of Danish banks. The BankInvest Group has more than € 25 billion under management.

For further information please visit www.biventure.com

About Amadeus

Amadeus Capital Partners Limited is a venture capital company specialising in high-technology investments in Europe. An independent fund management firm, Amadeus advises on the investment of £450 million. Amadeus is committed to nurturing its companies with a combination of management support and a global network of other technology investors and leaders. The Amadeus team brings to its portfolio companies a track record of building superior technology companies.

For further information please visit www.amadeuscapital.com

About 3i

3i is a world leader in private equity. We invest across Europe, the United States and Asia. Our competitive advantage comes from our international network and the strength and breadth of our business relationships. These underpin the value that we deliver to our portfolio and to our shareholders. 3i is an active and highly successful investor in the Technology, Media and Telecoms sector. 3i’s sector team invests in world leading technology businesses and our track record includes: CSR (Bluetooth chipsets, UK IPO), Focus Media (media advertising, China, IPO), Se Loger (online real estate, France IPO), Interhyp (Germany’s leading online mortgage broker, IPO), ScreenTonic (mobile advertising, France, sold to Microsoft), Mob365 (BlueLithium, US, sold to Yahoo!), Telecity (data centres, UK IPO) and Azzurri (telecoms, UK acquisition) amongst others. Current investments include: Demand Media (next generation media, US), Fastbooking (direct Internet hotel bookings, France), Sulake/Habbo Hotel (online teen community, Sweden) and DPhone (China’s market leading mobile retailer)

Further information at www.3i.com

About Nujira

Nujira’s mission is to dramatically improve the energy efficiency of cellular network base stations and digital broadcast transmitters by reducing the amount of waste energy dissipated as heat in the RF Power Amplifier circuit. Nujira High Accuracy Tracking (HAT™) Modulator technology dynamically controls the power supply to the circuit in line with the transmission performance required, enabling the creation of highly efficient RF Power Amplifiers for 3G and 4G cellular networks and DVB digital broadcast transmissions.