Venture capital-backed start-up semiconductor companies are a rarity in Japan, but that could be about to change as THine, the Tokyo fabless mixed signal semiconductor specialist, is now hoping to extend the model by kick-starting a VC fund for high-tech start-ups.
THine’s name comes from the old English word ‘thine’, or ‘yours’, and was chosen to signify the company’s aspiration to be a public concern. It was founded in 1991 by a former Toshiba engineer, Dr Tetsuya Iizuka, who had spent time working in Silicon Valley in the 1980s, and became enamoured of the Silicon Valley start-up system.
THine has the considerable advantage of having Tsuyoshi Kawanishi, the legendary former CEO of Toshiba Semiconductors, as an adviser and consultant.
Although it is 16 years old, THine only became a fabless semiconductor company nine years ago, after seven years doing design and consultancy work. In 1998, it developed its first proprietary product, an LVDS IC, and adopted the fabless business model using Kawasaki Steel’s fab for foundry.
Growth was explosive. For the next seven years, 1998-2005, the company grew at 73 per cent CAGR.
Now with over 60 IC designers, THine has a big business in display driver ICs, numbering Samsung, Sharp and Sony among its customers, and is branching out into automotive and wireless.
Iizuka doubles as chairman of the Japan Semiconductor Ventures Association (JASVA) a group of 230 individuals and companies, of which 100 are high-tech start-up companies including more than 30 device manufacturers.
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