Staccato Announces Merger with Artimi and Secures New Financing

Staccato Communications, an Ultra-Wideband (UWB) wireless technology pioneer and leader in Wireless USB (WUSB) from the USB Implementers Forum, today announced that it has completed a merger with Artimi, Inc., a leading developer of UWB and WUSB software and hardware solutions. Under the terms of the agreement, the combined entity will maintain the Staccato Communications name.

Staccato also announced today that it has closed $20 million in a new round of equity financing. This capital allows Staccato to productize the integrated portfolio of best-in-class hardware and software solutions of the two companies, as well as continue the expansion of its industry-leading roadmap. Investor participation included Allegis Capital, Amadeus Capital Partners, Bay Partners, Charles River Ventures, Formative Ventures, Intel Capital, Interwest Partners, Khosla Ventures, Noble Venture Finance, Oak Investment Partners and Vision Capital. All were investors in either Staccato or Artimi at the time of the merger. Marty Colombatto will maintain the role of CEO for Staccato, and Andrew Vought, previously CEO of Artimi, will assume the role of COO.

“The decision was easy to provide our strategic and financial support to this merger of complementary UWB companies,” said Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures. “With a strong syndicate of investors, as well as the best-in-class hardware and software that the two companies bring, the industry will have a well-funded supplier with all the necessary elements to drive a high-volume market.”

The new Staccato entity will leverage the inherent advantages of Staccato’s Ripcord2™ 65nm CMOS IC family, the world’s first and only single-chip solution certified in Band Groups 1, 3 and 6 for worldwide operation, and Artimi’s Zero Install™ technology and Wireless USB solutions to deliver innovative products to the market. As a result, Staccato will have a broad portfolio of end-to-end system solutions to service the PC, PC peripheral, consumer electronic and mobile handset markets.

“This merger creates great synergy and opportunities for the combined companies in the UWB market,” said George West, president and senior analyst with WTRS. “As UWB technology transitions from early Gen1 solutions to more mature Gen2 solutions that meet the strict market requirements in terms of cost, power, performance and worldwide operation, OEMs can finally offer products that deliver on the promise of UWB as a high-speed, low-power wireless technology. Staccato’s recently introduced Ripcord2 IC family has the features to enable these high-volume markets, and in conjunction with Artimi’s innovative software solutions, the combined company is poised for success as we hit the inflection point of mass adoption.”

“Staccato is an ideal partner for us as they are the only UWB company in the world that has a production-ready, single-chip CMOS solution that supports all the frequency band groups required for worldwide deployment,” said Andrew Vought, COO of Staccato. “The fusion of their best-in-class Ripcord2 single-chip silicon with our best-in-class software and end product solutions creates an unbeatable combination."

“As a result of this merger, we now have all the silicon and software assets necessary to the drive the mass adoption of UWB in the largest semiconductor markets that exist today – personal computers (PCs), PC peripherals, consumer electronics and mobile handsets,” said Marty Colombatto, CEO of Staccato. “This is reminiscent of my experience at Broadcom where we enjoyed explosive revenue growth by driving the adoption of new Ethernet technologies by offering customers unprecedented levels of integration, functionality, performance and cost.”

Artimi’s portfolio delivers on the promises made by UWB of fast and simple wireless connectivity. With Artimi’s WiMedia-compliant software-based architecture, this kind of performance can be delivered across all the major protocols including Wireless USB, high-speed Bluetooth and WiMedia Logical Link Control Protocol (WLP). Staccato’s second-generation Ripcord2 family is the industry’s first implementation utilizing 65nm CMOS process technology, and offers a quantum leap in power consumption, size and integration over existing solutions. In addition, Ripcord2 is the first and only single-chip solution to achieve WiMedia PHY certification for Band Groups 1, 3 and 6, and supports the capability for detection and avoidance (DAA), providing a worldwide compatible solution in a single device. Ripcord2 was also recently named CES 2009 Best Enabling Technology by the Consumer Electronics Association.

About Artimi, Inc.

Artimi, Inc. is a fabless semiconductor company developing silicon solutions for high bandwidth wireless connectivity based on UWB technologies. Artimi has corporate headquarters in Mountain View, California, research and development headquarters in Cambridge, UK and sales office in Taipei, Taiwan. For more information, visit www.artimi.com.

About Staccato Communications

Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., Staccato Communications is an Ultra Wideband (UWB) technology pioneer with applications expertise in Wireless USB, High-Speed Bluetooth, Internet Protocol (IP) and Wireless Audio/Video. The fabless semiconductor company serves the personal computing, mobile phone and consumer electronics industries with small form factor, single-chip, all-CMOS high-speed wireless solutions. Staccato’s WiMedia Certified products include PHY, MAC, drivers, application software, development kits and reference designs. The Team Staccato Partner Program enables total solutions through alliances with industry leaders throughout the value chain. For more information, please visit www.staccatocommunications.com.

Ripcord and Staccato are trademarks of Staccato Communications. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.