Aura Raises Series A Funding & Announces ARM Partnership

Aura Semiconductor a provider of high performance analog mixed signal solutions, has completed Series A round of equity investment from Bay Area based WRV Capital. Aura has innovative semiconductor technology related to the Internet of Things (IoT) Radios, Timing and Portable Audio markets. Aura's products bring significant differentiation with emphasis on high performance, low area and reduced power consumption.

“We have developed state of the art solutions across multiple verticals that are sampling with customers worldwide,” said Srinath Sridharan, CEO of Aura. “We stand to benefit immensely from WRV’s unmatched semiconductor sector knowledge and relationships to accelerate our growth.”

“We are excited to support Aura in all their product verticals,” said Lip-Bu Tan, Founder Partner of WRV Capital. “Their accomplished management team is tackling compelling market opportunities, with differentiated products that have clear benefits to end customers. We look forward to helping them scale globally.”

At the same time, Aura announced it is partnering with ARM to enable a complete Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE) / 802.15.4 wireless connectivity solution for Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The combination of ARM® Cordio® radio IP and Aura’s RF transceiver will enable a leading connectivity solution and facilitate greater choice in process nodes and foundry support.

Aura has the world’s smallest IoT radio transceiver IP for BTLE / 802.15.4 standards, with state-of-the-art performance which is capable of seamless coexistence with other RF technologies. Aura’s RF hard IP occupies less than 0.5 mm2 in area, has a RX peak current of 5.9mA and a TX peak current of 6.1mA from a 1.2V rail.

“We are delighted to partner with ARM on our connectivity solution,” said Srinath Sridharan, CEO of Aura. “We have designed our RF transceivers to deliver best-in-class performance, while maintaining the lowest power consumption at a third of the area of most of our competitors. Combining this high-performance radio with ARM’s proven modem, link-layer and stack will provide a compelling connectivity systems solution to our customers.”

“ARM Cordio products enable choice and flexibility and our partnership with Aura will ensure they are readily available to the broadest IoT developer audience,” said Bob Morris, Vice President of Marketing, Wireless Business Unit, ARM. “We welcome Aura to the ARM ecosystem as its RF transceivers, coupled with ARM Cordio radio IP, will give our partners greater choice in product features, foundries and process nodes, further enabling the expanding IoT market.”