Nitronex, a privately held developer of semiconductors, has been sold.
Gaas Labs, a private investment firm that focuses on semiconductors used in communications, said Tuesday it had acquired the Durham-based firm.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Over the years, Nitronex has raised more than $50 million in financing, including more than $16 million in 2010.
Since 2005, the company has landed 16 government contracts, including a grant from NASA in April for work in long-range communications.
Nitronex relocated to Durham from Raleigh in late 2007.
Launched in 1999, Nitronex focuses on design and manufacture of gallium nitride (GaN) radio frequency chips. These are used in defense, communications, Cable TV and other markets.
Nitronex utilizes proprietary technology to combine GaN and standard silicon substrate materials.
“We are excited to add Nitronex, a leading innovator in GaN-based RF solutions, to our portfolio of RF semiconductor companies,” said John Ocampo, co-Founder and president of Gaas Labs, in a statement. “We look forward to helping Nitronex further leverage its products and technologies and extend its RF market leadership.”
Gaas Labs is based in the U.S. with offices in Europe, China and India.
Ocampo was the co-founder of Sirenza Microdevices, which was acquired by Triad-based RF Microdevices.
“John Ocampo and Gaas Labs have demonstrated their ability to build and develop companies that realize their full growth potential,” said Nitronex Chief Executive Officer Charles Shalvoy.
“Partnering with Gaas Labs is an important milestone for Nitronex, which will enable us to deliver greater value to our customers in the rapidly growing, high performance, GaN RF power device market,” he added. “We are thrilled to continue advancing our GaN-on-Silicon technology and expanding our market presence with Gaas Labs’ backing and the aid of their strategic and operational expertise.”
