Amantys Gets $5 Million from Avago and adds Erwin Wolf as CEO

Amantys Ltd. today announced that Avago Technologies, Inc. has invested $5m in power electronics innovator Amantys as part of a strategic investment agreement between the two companies. At the same time, Erwin Wolf has joined Amantys as Chief Executive Officer to lead the company through the coming years of growth. And as part of the investment, Martin Weigert, Avago’s GM Industrial Fibre Products, will join the Amantys board as a non-executive director.

Commenting on the investment, Amantys Chairman Pete Magowan said: "Attracting Avago as a strategic investor is a significant endorsement of the progress at Amantys and a great match for exploiting our vision for the future of the power electronics industry. The company can now accelerate critical IGBT driver development programs to enhance our roadmap of innovative, cost effective gate drive solutions.”

"I am also delighted to announce Erwin’s appointment as CEO to strengthen the leadership team of Amantys. Erwin has worked in the power industry for many years and brings with him unrivalled experience and relationships within this market. He has already brought an invaluable insight in his role as Non-Executive Director since early 2012, and he now brings that experience to bear as leader of the company,” Magowan continued.

Wolf brings a strong track record in leading business ventures and advanced technology teams in the field of power semiconductors and optoelectronics, primarily with Siemens AG and Infineon AG, most recently as CEO of Azzurro Semiconductors.

Prior to Azzurro he was Vice President Technology in power semiconductors at Infineon, and before that, Managing Director at Infineon Fibre Optik GmbH. His 30 year career also includes the role of CEO at OSRAM Opto Semiconductors Inc. and Vice President of Opto Components at Siemens AG, and global experience including posts in Malaysia and California, as well as his native Germany.

Commenting on his appointment, Wolf said, “I’ve been impressed with how quickly the company has developed over the last 18 months and I am joining the business at an exciting point in the company’s evolution. With Amantys Power Insight we are unique in offering IGBT Drivers enabled with the capability of monitoring and logging power electronics performance during operation. This vision for the digitization of power electronics has already brought the company to the attention of a series of leading power industry players, underlined by the investment from Avago. I’m now looking forward to working with the team to continue our progress.”