As we first reported on our UK Tech Startup blog, the power management IC specialist CamSemi has obtained $4m in funding from Carbon Trust Investments, as part of $26 million raised in total for its C round funding.

Claiming it as one of the largest VC funding rounds for a European fabless semiconductor company this year, the company is aiming to reduce the 'standby' energy consumption of consumer electronic (CE) products by up to 90 per cent

Carbon Trust Investments is taking a $4 million equity stake in CamSemi, in what is described as its first investment in a company focused on improving energy efficiency for CE products.

The C round funding was led by 3i and existing shareholders Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) and TTP Ventures.

"Standby power is an important issue for consumer electronic equipment manufacturers owing to both rising energy costs and the emergence of green consumers who are concerned about their carbon footprint," said Adam Workman, partner at Carbon Trust Investments. "There are also several pieces of impending legislation that will force manufacturers to reduce energy consumption when their products are in standby mode. The Carbon Trust is delighted to be joining at this investment round as we believe that CamSemi has one of the few technologies in development with the potential to really make a difference in this area."

"Our first products are already available to the worldwide market and shipping in volume," said David Baillie, CEO at CamSemi. The C2470 family of controllers allows manufacturers for the first time to replace bulky, low cost and power-hungry linear supplies with a simple, cost competitive and much more energy efficient approach.

Laurence Garrett, a partner at 3i and CamSemi board member was also suitably bullish, foreseeing future leadership in the power management IC market.

"CamSemi is probably one of Europe's top three emerging fabless semiconductor companies," said Garrett. "The company has developed a number of patented, proprietary technologies; is developing a portfolio of compelling products that target a major unmet need; and has built a world-class management and engineering capability."

According to CamSemi, the new funding will help support its ongoing product development programmes and build its sales and marketing infrastructure.

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.