Investment in wireless semiconductor companies in the Bristol area will reach $1bn by the end of this year, according to Silicon South West, the industry network for semiconductor, wireless, and microelectronics companies in the region.

“There is a group of high-profile wireless communication technology start-ups in the region such as M-Stream, Pro-Vision, Air Semiconductor, MMIC Solutions and Xmos, and a strong pipeline of VC deals which will take us through the $1bn invested milestone by the end of this year,” said  Simon Bond, director of innovation centres for Silicon South West.

Last week’s $25m investment in Swindon-based Ubiquisys, the developer of femto-cell access point technology, brings the total of venture capital raised by wireless communications technology companies in the region to $190m, since the start of 2006.

Additional, substantial, investments were made by Nextwave Wireless with its acquisition of IP Wireless for $235m in May this year, and Amdocs which acquired Cramer for $425m in 2006.

The largest South-West wireless recipients of VC funding (2006/7) are:
1. Icera - $60m
2. Ubiquisys - $37m
3. Apertio - $30m
4. picoChip -  $27m
5. Mirics - $10m

An additional $25m plus of VC has been raised by: Air Semiconductor, Geonix, MMIC Solutions, Nanotech, SiConnect, SRT and Xmos during 2006/07.

Silicon South West will be hosting the Wireless 2.0 conference with speakers from the sector’s leading companies on September 28, 2007 in Bristol.

See also: Electronics Weekly's Technology Start-ups where you can find articles on technology start-ups in the UK, an interactive map showing the location and business sector of each start-up and links to useful websites for the technology entrepreneur.