Accent closes 5 million Euros in series B funding to expand smart grid technology offerings

MILAN, ITALY & PALO ALTO, USA: Accent, a world leader in semiconductor integration of communications and metering technologies, announced today that it has closed a new round of financing of 5 million Euros from Silicon Valley investor Tallwood Venture Capital.

The funding will be used to accelerate development and productization of key communication technologies for system-on-chip solutions required by Smart Meter as well as emerging Smart Home applications.

According to Pike Research, Smart Grid deployments are quickly accelerating at a 30 percent growth rate with an installed base reaching 18 percent of 1.4 billion electric meters worldwide by 2015.

Thanks to major Smart Grid design wins in North America and China with industry leaders such as Itron and Topscomm, Accent has amassed significant traction in the AMR/AMI market space. As the Smart Grid industry continues to define an open, standard-based framework for deployments, meter vendors need quick access to cost effective silicon solutions incorporating the latest technologies for in-home networks and communication back to the utility.

Accent’s ASMgrid flexible silicon platform already supports critical meter functions — such as ZigBee Pro, AMI application processing, power-line communication — enabling system vendors the highest levels of silicon integration with mass volume deployment in as little as three months.

“We were attracted by Accent’s ability to innovate the semiconductor landscape for smart grid equipment manufacturers, providing tangible performance and cost benefits. Looking forward, we expect Accent to extend its leadership position with more advanced solutions combined with their comprehensive semiconductor capabilities,” said Luis Arzubi, general partner at Tallwood Venture Capital.

“We are delighted to add a prestigious firm like Tallwood to our shareholders. The closure of this funding is a strong endorsement of our global market reach and technology position,” said Federico Arcelli, CEO of Accent. “This funding will enable us to accelerate market introduction of next generation Smart Grid technologies, as part of our ASMgrid offering, and continue to optimally address the needs of our customers worldwide.”