Pintail Technologies Secures $7M in Funding Semiconductor Test Innovator Closes Series B
DALLAS – Pintail Technologies, a breakthrough provider in semiconductor test improvement solutions, today announced that it has secured $7M in Series B venture capital funding, bringing the company's total funding to date to $11.5M. Participating in the round were Austin Ventures, Agilent Ventures, Duchossois Technology Partners, IVF Ventures and STARTech Early Ventures.
"Leading semiconductor manufacturers are continually looking for ways to reduce the cost of test and improve their quality and yield," said Clark Jernigan of Austin Ventures. "Pintail's foundation of real-time software for online decision making has opened up a whole new range of opportunities for customers to increase test throughput, improve quality and reduce response time without any changes to their existing capital infrastructure."
"Pintail is distinguished by the companies it has engaged with during its development phase," stated Phil Kirk of Duchossois Technology Partners. "Companies like Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, STMicroelectronics and STATSChipPAC represent some of the most demanding semiconductor leaders in the world. The conflicting needs for higher levels of quality in markets like automotive combined with lowering cost of test in all consumer products are major challenges to the semiconductor industry. Pintail has developed innovative solutions to these challenges."
The new funding will be used to expand the company's worldwide sales and support teams and to finance the development of additional test performance improvement solutions.
Pintail Technologies' software products are built upon a platform-independent, real-time data acquisition technology called SwifTest™-Monitor that operates on-line in semiconductor test operations. The real-time data is made available to a variety of Pintail productivity solutions that include:
- SwifTest-MX – for mixed-signal test time acceleration
- SwifTest-AQ – for reducing field defects per new automotive electronics standards
- TestScape™ - an easy-to-use, real-time dashboard that provides global insight to test operations and also provides the basis for a new generation of OEE and life cycle management tools
Taylor Scanlon, Pintail's president and CEO added, "Investment in semiconductor test has taken a back seat to improving fab efficiency, especially in recent years. We are very pleased to be backed by these world-class investors in our quest to bring true innovation to test. Our value proposition is obvious when we hear that our customers are receiving significant benefits in every key area of concern in the test environment."
Test improvement solutions from Pintail are proving to deliver measurable results in productivity, visibility, and accountability that achieve advances in cost reduction and quality:
- 30% test time reduction using existing designs and test equipment with minor test program edits
- Reduced DPM using advanced parts-average-testing techniques on-line
- Dual application at wafer probe and final test with no performance penalty
- Reduced errors and scrap due to real-time, online monitoring
- Rapid access to useful information rather than analysis of volumes of old data
- Reduced finger-pointing between departments and across the supply chain
- Faster time-to-volume on new product rollouts
About Pintail Technologies
Pintail Technologies is a semiconductor test improvement company that
provides breakthrough software to reduce the cost of test and increase
production output and quality through existing test equipment and programs.
Pintail has created the first test improvement solutions to combine
real-time test process control capabilities with innovative analytical
programs in an integrated software suite designed for speed and accuracy. In
addition, Pintail solutions impact cost and quality of testing through
advanced sampling and parts averaging. Fabless and integrated device
manufacturers worldwide, in collaboration with leading test and assembly
subcontractors and ATE vendors, use Pintail tools to increase their
competitive advantage. More information on the company and its solutions is
available at http://www.pintail.com.
About Austin Ventures
Austin Ventures has been working with talented entrepreneurs to build
valuable companies since 1979. With $2.4 billion under management, AV is the
most active venture capital firm in Texas, and one of the most established
in the nation. With a focus on enterprise software, computer and
communications hardware, and business services, Austin Ventures invests at
all stages of company development, from $100,000 "planned experiments" to
$50 million investments in management buyouts. For more information see
www.austinventures.com.
About Agilent Ventures
Agilent Ventures is a business unit of Agilent Technologies Inc. dedicated
to investing globally in groundbreaking, privately held, early-stage
technology companies. Additional information about Agilent Ventures is
available at www.agilentventures.com.
About Agilent Technologies
Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is a global technology leader in
communications, electronics, life sciences and chemical analysis. The
company's 28,000 employees serve customers in more than 110 countries.
Agilent had net revenue of $6.1 billion in fiscal year 2003. Information
about Agilent is available on the Web at www.agilent.com.
About Duchossois Technology Partners
Duchossois Technology Partners (DTEC) is a leading Midwest venture capital
firm based in Chicago. DTEC is dedicated to helping entrepreneurs build
successful enterprises and takes a value-added approach to investing. DTEC
invests in early-stage companies and focuses on networking, semiconductors
and software. See www.duchtech.com.
About IVF Ventures
Founded in 1994, IVF is a venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley. In
addition to traditional syndicated venture capital financings, IVF focuses
on highly structured investments and on providing liquidity to founders and
officers of venture backed companies. Additional information about IVF is
available at www.indventurefund.com.
About STARTech
STARTech Early Ventures, based in Richardson, Texas, is an early stage
venture firm focused on high-tech startups in Texas and Oklahoma.
STARTech's mission is to create and grow viable companies in several
technology sectors such as telecommunications, enterprise software, sensor
networks, biotech, nanotechnology and semiconductors. Additional
information can be found at www.startechev.com.