Adesto Technologies

Market position

Adesto positioned itself in ultralow-power memory and connectivity silicon for IoT and industrial IoT edge devices, and was named to EE Times' Silicon 60 list of startups to watch in 2014. Its acquisition by Dialog Semiconductor for approximately $500 million was framed as a way for Dialog to gain access to the industrial IoT market.

Differentiation rested on CBRAM, a resistive non-volatile memory claimed to use orders of magnitude less power than NOR flash, with high endurance, fast switching and a compact 1T1R cell scalable below 28 nm for embedding in SoCs. This was combined, through the S3 Semiconductors and Echelon acquisitions, with analog/mixed-signal ASIC design, IP cores and industrial IoT embedded systems in a single supplier.

Technology

Adesto's core proprietary technology was Conductive Bridging RAM (CBRAM), a resistive non-volatile memory that stores data by forming and dissolving a conductive filament in a solid electrolyte layer between two electrodes, retaining data without continuous power and consuming substantially less energy than conventional flash during read and write operations. The underlying programmable metallization cell approach was licensed from Axon Technologies Corp., an Arizona State University spinoff, and was reinforced by CBRAM patents acquired from Qimonda AG in 2010. Cited advantages include very low power consumption relative to NOR flash, high endurance and fast switching, with a simple one-transistor-one-resistor (1T1R) cell that scales below 28 nm and can be embedded in SoCs alongside microcontrollers. The portfolio also included low-power serial flash memory, analog and mixed-signal ASICs and IP cores, and embedded systems obtained via acquisitions. In 2018 the company began work with the University of California San Diego exploring computation performed directly in memory.

Go-to-market

Adesto sold directly to OEMs and ODMs and through a distributor channel that generated about 65% of 2018 revenue, supported by a worldwide sales organization and a network of sales representatives.

OEMs and ODMs building connected products, with end markets in consumer electronics, home appliances, wireless devices, data storage, industrial, communications and medical sectors. Application areas cited include smart meters, wearables, home automation, smart grids, solar energy and smart lighting.

Geography

Headquartered in California (Santa Clara per Wikipedia; Sunnyvale per other sources), with regional offices and design centers in China, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Portugal, Taiwan and the United Kingdom, plus additional facilities in India and Vietnam. The company served customers worldwide, with 72% of 2018 revenue from international markets (Asia Pacific 47%, Europe 21%).

History

Founded in 2006, Adesto built its early memory work on programmable metallization cell technology licensed from Axon Technologies Corp., an Arizona State University spinoff. In October 2010 it acquired CBRAM-related intellectual property and patents from the insolvent Qimonda AG, including 30 patent families plus licenses to further undisclosed patents, and shipped its first CBRAM product in 2011. The company completed a Nasdaq IPO in 2015 under the symbol IOTS at $5 per share, raising roughly $25 million with a total offering value of $28.75 million; underwriters included Needham & Company, Oppenheimer & Co. and Roth Capital Partners. In 2018 it made two acquisitions: S3 Semiconductors, a Dublin-based analog and mixed-signal ASIC and IP core provider, in May, and Echelon Corporation, a home and industrial automation company, announced in June for $45 million and completed on 18 September 2018. Also in 2018 Adesto began a research collaboration with the University of California San Diego on in-memory computation. In March 2019 it shut down the acquired Echelon Lighting Solutions business after a planned sale fell through. Dialog Semiconductor announced its acquisition of Adesto in February 2020 and completed it in June 2020 for $12.55 per share, about $500 million; Dialog was in turn acquired by Renesas Electronics in August 2021.

Risks & controversies

In March 2019, less than six months after completing the Echelon acquisition, Adesto shut down the Echelon Lighting Solutions business (Lumewave RF and hybrid products, LumInsight CMS and CPD3000/CLP4000 power line controllers) effective 29 March 2019, after an agreed sale of the unit fell through pending the buyer's shareholder approval; the company said it would honor existing warranties and contractual commitments. Financially, Adesto reported an operating loss of $11.26 million and a net loss of $21.44 million in 2018. The Dialog acquisition required a CFIUS review, which the company announced had been completed.