Fresco Microchip

About Fresco Microchip

Fresco Microchip Inc. was a fabless semiconductor company established in 2004 to address the global television market's transition from analog to digital broadcasting. The company was founded by a team of industry veterans, including Lance Greggain, who served as President and CEO, and Scott Baker, who was the VP of Engineering and Operations. Greggain brought extensive experience from five previous fabless semiconductor startups, including founding Jaldi Semiconductor, which was acquired by Pixelworks. Baker previously held engineering leadership roles at Silicon Optix and Genesis Microchip. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, with design centers in Ottawa and Irvine, California, the company focused on developing radio frequency (RF), mixed-signal, and digital signal processing (DSP) integrated circuits for consumer electronics.

The company operated on a fabless business model, concentrating on the design and sale of semiconductor chips while outsourcing the manufacturing process. Its primary clients were manufacturers of television tuner modules and consumer electronics companies. Fresco Microchip's revenue was generated from the sale of its integrated circuits. The company successfully raised significant venture capital to fund its operations and growth, securing $14.7 million in 2005, a $14.3 million Series B in 2008, and a $9 million Series C round in 2011, with investors including Celtic House Venture Partners, Ventures West, and the Ontario Venture Capital Fund.

Fresco Microchip's product portfolio centered on demodulators and silicon tuners designed to enhance picture quality and reduce system costs for television manufacturers. In 2007, the company launched its first major product, the FM2080, a single-chip hybrid receiver that integrated universal legacy video and audio demodulation (NTSC, PAL, SECAM) with digital video demodulation (DVB-T) and intermediate frequency (IF) processing. This consolidation of functions into a single IC eliminated the need for multiple components, thereby reducing design complexity and the bill of materials for its customers. In July 2012, Fresco Microchip merged with Redmere Technology Ltd. to form Spectra7 Microsystems, a new entity focused on creating high-performance analog chips to address the increasing bandwidth demands of the mobile and internet infrastructure markets.