Mauna Kea Semiconductors (MKSemi), the leading low power ultra-wideband (UWB) company, announced the closing of Series Pre-A+ funding totaling $12.8 million led by Lightspeed China Partners with participation by marquee investors Qiming Venture and Ivy Capital.
Guided by its mission to enable ubiquitous high-precision sensing, MKSemi also launched its new product MK8000 system on a chip (SoC), the world’s lowest power, highest integrated chip solution, currently the best solution that empowers IoT devices with the smallest batteries and size for high-precision sensing. MK8000 also enables OEMs and ODMs to rapidly design, integrate and deploy complete location and direction-finding solutions.
Additionally, the company announced a partnership with world-leading semiconductor solutions provider Infineon Technologies and industrial and automotive system integrator ThinkSeed Systems to enable secure ranging and location in IoT applications.
Market research firm ABI Research reveals that despite UWB being early in its ecosystem development, it is fast becoming a major short-range wireless technology. UWB-enabled devices are forecasted to reach more than 1.3 billion shipments by 2026, growing from 143 million in 2020.
Dr. Yifeng Zhang, Co-founder and CEO of MKSemi
We are grateful to our investors and partners for supporting and embracing our differentiator — the unparalleled ability to enable IoT devices with high-precision sensing. Already working closely with tier one smartphone OEMs, MK8000 also has wide-ranging potential to dramatically bolster consumer and industrial IoT applications such as smart homes, cities, automobiles, wearables, and health monitoring devices.
James Mi, Founding Partner, Lightspeed China Partners
Every once in a while, we see all the necessary ingredients that present itself in one promising startup – industry pioneers evident in the founders' experience, breakthrough product and tremendous potential with a growing market. MKSemi is such company that we are proud to support. The company has a chance to impact industries and accelerate UWB market adoption, and we're excited to help them scale globally.
