麻豆视频

麻豆视频 Engineering spin-off Appulse Power acquired by Silanna Semiconductor

photo of startup members
Mark Drucker, President of Silanna Semiconductor, with Professor Aleksandar Prodic虂, Ahsan, Mete Erturk, CEO of Appulse Power, Aleksandar Radic虂 and Behzad Mahdavikhah (photo by Marit Mitchell)

., a startup company founded by 麻豆视频 Engineering alumni Ahsan Zaman, Behzad Mahdavikhah, and Aleksandar Radic虂 and Professor Aleksandar Prodic虂, has been acquired by the multinational for an undisclosed amount.

鈥淭he success of Appulse is credit to the incredible talent and dedication of my co-founders,鈥 says Prodic虂. 鈥淭his team has brought us into one of the biggest sales for an early-stage Canadian startup in the power electronics semiconductor industry, and I鈥檓 extremely proud of their accomplishments.鈥澛

Appulse designs application-specific integrated circuits to allow devices, including smartphones and tablets, to charge faster and consume less power. Its innovations enable more efficient charging and smaller components both inside and external to devices 鈥 this means shrinking the footprint required for power management inside mobile devices, and downsizing clunky chargers and adapters.

鈥淪ilanna鈥檚 vision is to grow this into a very large business and ultimately change the way power electronics is done,鈥 says Silanna President Mark Drucker. 鈥淟eading electronic device manufacturers are keenly interested in improving power efficiency and increasing power density 鈥 with the acquisition of Appulse Power we have the ability to power mobile devices more quickly and efficiently, and that鈥檚 something that鈥檚 enormously appealing to our customers.鈥

Appulse has 13 employees across two offices in Toronto and San Diego, Calif., all of whom are staying with Silanna and will operate as an independent business unit within the company. The Toronto office will become Silanna鈥檚 first Canadian location, in addition to hubs in San Diego; Raleigh, North Carolina; Brisbane and Sydney, Australia; and Singapore.

The company鈥檚 roots extend back to Zaman鈥檚 second year as an undergraduate student in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), when he distinguished himself in Prodic虂鈥檚 class and joined his group as a summer researcher in 2007.

鈥淚鈥檝e always felt driven to work on addressing real-world problems, and I became passionate about power management while working with Professor Prodic虂,鈥 says Zaman. 鈥淪pinning this research into a startup is something I know my co-founders and I were extremely motivated to do 鈥 now we鈥檙e excited to take it to the next level with Silanna.鈥

鈥淲hen we speak to industry about our technology, the most common response is 鈥楬ow quickly can we engage,鈥欌 says Mete Erturk, the CEO of Appulse who will now become vice-president of AC:DC products for Silanna. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have to do a lot of convincing 鈥 it鈥檚 clear that what we鈥檙e offering addresses a lot of existing pain points.鈥

Appulse received critical grants from NSERC鈥檚 idea2innovation (i2i) program and the Ontario Centres of Excellence SmartStart Seed Fund. The team also received early support from the (UTEST) incubator as part of its 2014 cohort, and went on to join , the premier technology incubator and hub for Southern California鈥檚 startup community. There Drucker, a board member and EvoNexus alumnus himself, was introduced to the company鈥檚 innovative technology.

Drucker says the deep talent pool in Prodic虂鈥檚 group and at 麻豆视频 Engineering was a major draw for him. 鈥淎sk any venture capitalist, and they鈥檒l almost universally tell you they don鈥檛 invest in technology 鈥 they invest in people,鈥 he says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e very excited about continuing to collaborate with 麻豆视频. We鈥檝e been extremely impressed with every researcher we鈥檝e engaged with, and that speaks very highly to the quality of student at the University of Toronto.鈥

鈥淓very year in the lab we create a few ideas that could turn into startups, but finding this complementary skill set in Ahsan, Behzad and Aleks 鈥 that鈥檚 something special,鈥 says Prodic虂. 鈥淭he most exciting thing has been seeing their success. For me as a teacher, that鈥檚 the best part.鈥

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