TPACK

About TPACK

TPACK A/S was a fabless semiconductor company established in 2001 and headquartered in the Copenhagen area of Denmark. The firm carved out a specific niche in the telecommunications sector by providing intellectual property for optical networking applications. It operated on a SOFTSILICON business model, developing and licensing solutions for Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). This approach enabled telecommunication equipment manufacturers to accelerate their development cycles and reduce risks, while also allowing for the addition of new functionalities to hardware already deployed in the field.

The company’s core business involved delivering silicon integrated circuits that performed essential data transport and switching functions within the Optical Transport Network (OTN), a market that was experiencing rapid growth. TPACK's products were integral components for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) building the next generation of packet-optical transport systems. On October 11, 2006, the company secured a significant Series B funding round of $12.5 million. Among its investors were notable venture capital firms such as Inventure Capital (Denmark), Slottsbacken Venture Capital, and the Danish state's investment fund, Vækstfonden.

The company's trajectory culminated in a series of acquisitions. On August 18, 2010, TPACK was acquired by the American firm Applied Micro Circuits Corporation (AppliedMicro) for $32 million in cash, plus potential performance-based earn-outs. At the time of this transaction, Colin L.M. Macnab served as the Chief Executive Officer. Following this, the TPACK subsidiary was sold by AppliedMicro to Altera Corporation on April 22, 2013, marking the end of its journey as a distinct entity and integrating its specialized OTN expertise into a larger semiconductor design and manufacturing ecosystem.