VIVES - Louvain Technology Fund Participates in a Second Capital Round of DelfMEMS, a French Company Active in the RF MEMS Devices

VIVES - Louvain Technology Fund Participates in a Second Capital Round of DelfMEMS, a French Company Active in the RF MEMS Devices

LOUVAIN-LA-NEUVE, Belgium, January 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --



VIVES - Louvain Technology Fund, managed by Sopartec S.A., together with CDC
Entreprises, Iris Capital and early investors of the company among which Inovam (IRD
Group), announce an investment in DelfMEMS, a developer of MEMS (
Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems) switching solutions for applications in the
RadioFrequency (RF) communication field. The funding of EUR8.2M ($10.5M) will enable
DelfMEMS to accelerate the industrialisation of its products.



IEMN spin-off. Established in late 2005 in Villeneuve d'Ascq near Lille (France),
DelfMEMS is a provider of RF switches based on MEMS technology. The company is an IEMN
spin-off (Institute of Electronics, Microelectronics and Nanotechnology), a joint research
unit involving the CNRS and three higher education institutions in the region Nord
Pas-de-Calais.



Revolutionary chip for mobile phones. Since its inception, the company has perfected a
particular family of integrated MEMS relay (miniature switches) from its innovative patent
portfolio and targeted to "front end modules" for next generation mobile devices,
smartphones or tablets. "This new micro-mechanical block, which solves the weaknesses and
improve performance of previous generations of competing products, enables our customers
to simplify their products while minimizing cost, size and power consumption," said
Olivier Millet founder of DelfMEMS.



International expansion. " These funds will enable us to qualify first design wins and
DelfMEMS manufacturing process with our partner for high volume manufacturing entity in
the USA. The goal is to support the aggressive production ramp-up of our customers to
penetrate the market, in order to become a major player in the RF MEMS market ". DelfMEMS
is currently engaged with the leaders of equipment for mobile applications and is also
targeting other high added value applications.



Scientific collaboration with Universite catholique de Louvain (UCL). "I have close
relationship with DelfMEMS since its inception, including participating in the Scientific
Committee, and my lab collaborates regularly with the company. I am particularly pleased
with the success of this fundraising which should help the company to translate its
technical and scientific excellence into industrial success. This is also an opportunity
to nurture collaborative between UCL and DelfMEMS, especially through the UCL WELCOME and
WINFAB platforms "said Jean-Pierre Raskin, professor at UCL.



First VIVES cross-border investment. " With this first investment in France, VIVES
materializes its ambition to become a cross-border fund for young technology companies. We
are pleased to support the company in this new phase of its development and are looking
forward to encouraging cross-fertilization with UCL ecosystem " concludes Philippe
Durieux, CEO Sopartec, the management company of VIVES - Louvain Technology Fund.



About DelfMEMS



DelfMEMS (http://www.delfmems.com) develops radio frequency switches based on MEMS
technology. Its customers are manufacturers of automatic test equipment, manufacturers of
RF front-end modules, semiconductor and telecommunication infrastructure industry, etc..
DelfMEMS allows them to increase their productivity and reduce costs.



About VIVES and Sopartec



VIVES - Louvain Technology Fund (http://www.vivesfund.com [
file:///C:\Documents%20and%20Settings\fdepoorter\Local%20Settings\Temporary%20Internet%20F
iles\Content.Outlook\MC4GZZWO\www.vivesfund.com ]) is a cross-border private technology
fund that invests in spin-offs from Universite catholique de Louvain (UCL,
http://www.uclouvain.be [
file:///C:\Documents%20and%20Settings\fdepoorter\Local%20Settings\Temporary%20Internet%20F
iles\Content.Outlook\MC4GZZWO\www.uclouvain.be ]) as well as in technological start-ups.
VIVES is a multi-sectorial fund with particular emphasis on eco-innovation projects. VIVES
invests in companies at all stages of maturity: seed, start-up and growth. Created at the
initiative of UCL in September 2011, VIVES closed its 1st financing round at EUR 43
million, making it the largest European investment fund ever initiated by a university.



VIVES is managed by Sopartec (http://www.sopartec.com [
file:///C:\Documents%20and%20Settings\fdepoorter\Local%20Settings\Temporary%20Internet%20F
iles\Content.Outlook\MC4GZZWO\www.sopartec.com ]), UCL's technology transfer company and a
member of the Louvain Technology Transfer Office (LTTO, http://www.ltto.com
[file:///C:\Documents%20and%20Settings\fdepoorter\Local%20Settings\Temporary%20Internet%20
Files\Content.Outlook\MC4GZZWO\www.ltto.com ]). Since more than 20 years, UCL, Sopartec
and the VIVES fund have supported the creation of more than 60 spin-offs and start-ups,
which currently employ over 3.000 people. VIVES is capitalised by leading national and
European investors such as the European Investment Fund (EIF), SFPI-FPIM, Fortis Private
Equity Belgium, CDC Entreprises (France), ING Belgium, Sofina, AXA Belgium, Belfius Bank,
IRD (France), Nivelinvest, but also by Sopartec and its management team.



About Universite Catholique de Louvain (UCL)



Founded in 1425, the Universite catholique de Louvain (UCL,
http://www.uclouvain.be) is one of Europe's oldest universities. It offers hundreds of
educational programmes to more than 27,000 students from some 120 countries. UCL is ranked
125th in the QS World University Rankings (2011-2012), making it the number one university
in the French Community of Belgium. Education, Research and Service to Society are the
three fundamental missions of UCL. Anchored in a tradition of excellence, they have always
opened up UCL to its region, Europe and the world.



About CDC Entreprises



CDC Entreprises is a subsidiary of Caisse des Depots (France) and one of the
shareholders of Vives - Louvain Technology Fund. FSN PME is an investment fund dedicated
dedicated to innovative SMEs, initiated by the French State through its Long Term
Investment Program (Programme d'investissement d'Avenir) and managed by CDC Entreprises.
This 400 MEUR fund co-invest in SME's with strong innovation and growth profile,
developing new usages, services and digital contents or technologies necessary to digital
economy expansion.



Website :
http://www.cdcentreprises.fr/portefeuille/fiche/fonds_directs/F332/fsn_pme.php



About Iris Capital



Iris Capital (http://www.iriscapital.com) is a pan-European venture capital fund
manager specializing in digital economy. Since its inception in 1986, the Iris Capital
team has invested more than EUR900 million in more than 200 companies. Iris Capital
targets opportunities in service or technology companies, seeking growth capital in order
to realize their strategy. It provides active support to its portfolio companies on the
basis of its strong sector specialization and experience, and has offices in Paris,
Duesseldorf, San Francisco, Montreal, Riyadh, Dubai, Beijing and Tokyo. In 2012 Iris
Capital has entered into a strategic partnership with Orange and Publicis to manage their
joint venture capital initiative.



About Inovam and IRD group



Inovam is a regional seed capital that invests in early-stage growth companies in the
North of France. Inovam invests in the sectors of information technology (hardware and
software), security, telecommunications, microelectronics, cleantechs and life sciences.
Inovam provides supports for companies via the IRD group (http://www.irdnpdc.fr)
network of entrepreneurs. The deal flow of Inovam is ensured by the universities as well
as by technological start-ups located in the North of France; Inovam is capitalised with
EUR 10M by the following partners: IRD group; Conseil regional Npdc; Caisse d'Epargne;
PRES; FPMEI-FCPR (CDC) et CRCI. Since its creation, Inovam has invested 6 ME into 41
companies. IRD is one of the shareholders of Vives - Louvain Technology Fund.




VIVES

CONTACT: Contact: Philippe Durieux, CEO Sopartec S.A., p.durieux@vivesfund.com, +32-10-39-00-21.


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