Yahoo Finance ARM backs 5G chip company Blu Wireless
The microchip giant ARM Holdings has invested in a Bristol-based company whose technology is seen as crucial to the next generation of mobile networks.
Blu Wireless’ “millimetre wave” technology increases the amount of data that can be sent over 5G networks and helps make them more efficient.
The ultra-fast signals it allows are expected to be central to building the faster data networks needed to support 4K video streaming, virtual reality programs, driverless cars and smart cities.
The investment represents a bet on 5G for ARM, which was bought by the Japanese technology conglomerate SoftBank and is best known for designing the microchips that feature in the iPhone. As the smartphone market saturates it is eyeing growth in new markets, such as the microchips for base stations that broadcast mobile networks, as well as connected cars and the internet of things.
Like ARM, Blu Wireless creates the designs for processors and sells licences to other companies that then manufacture them. Founded by a group of industry veterans in 2011, it is led by Henry Nurser, a former senior executive at the European chip group STMicroelectronics.
ARM participated in an investment reported to be £10m in the company this year that has now been followed by a £6.6m fundraising led by private equity group Calculus Capital.
The investment means the two firms will ensure their designs are compatible. 5G networks, expected to come online in the next decade, will need heavy investment because their higher-frequency signals do not travel as far as radio waves used in current networks.
