Javelin Semiconductor

About Javelin Semiconductor

Javelin Semiconductor emerged in 2007 as a fabless semiconductor company based in Austin, Texas, concentrating on the wireless communications market. The company was co-founded by Brad Fluke, who also took on the roles of president and CEO. Fluke brought extensive experience from the mixed-signal semiconductor industry, including a decade-long tenure at Silicon Labs and an earlier career at Crystal Semiconductor and Analog Devices. This background in managing and marketing semiconductor products, particularly in cellular communications, shaped Javelin's strategic direction.

The firm focused on developing high-performance, mixed-signal integrated circuits (ICs) for wireless applications, specifically targeting the 3G power amplifier (PA) market. Javelin's core business involved designing and selling these ICs to manufacturers of mobile devices. A key differentiator for Javelin was its use of a standard complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) process technology, a move away from the more traditional Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) used for PAs. This approach promised benefits in performance, efficiency, and noise reduction. The company's flagship product, the JAV5001, was a monolithic CMOS PA for 3G communications, which integrated circuitry for power regulation, bias, matching, and power control into a small 3x3 mm footprint. This product and subsequent designs were adopted by major smartphone manufacturers, including Samsung for its Galaxy S Duos phone.

Javelin's journey was supported by significant venture capital investment, raising a total of $21.6 million over four funding rounds from investors like Sevin Rosen Funds and Silverton Partners. This funding enabled the company to grow to nearly 30 employees and achieve a shipping volume of about one million chips per month. The company's progress and technology eventually attracted the attention of larger industry players. In April 2013, Avago Technologies (now Broadcom Inc.) acquired Javelin Semiconductor. The acquisition was a strategic move for Avago to establish a foundation for its RF CMOS design and development, aiming to create next-generation hybrid GaAs/CMOS front-end modules for the smartphone market.