Dutch-based Qualinx raises €8M in Series A to bring its digital RF technology to market

Qualinx, a fabless semiconductor company based in Delft, The Netherlands, has raised €8M in Series A round of funding.

The funding from FORWARD.one, InnovationQuarter Capital, and Waterman Ventures builds on earlier investments from Delft Enterprises.

Qualinx was founded by Massoud Tohidian, Iman Madadi, and Amir Reza Ahmadi Mehr as a spin-off from Delft University of Technology.

The Dutch startup claims to be pioneering ultra-low power tracking and connectivity solutions and the funding will help bring its digital RF technology to market.

In modern chip design, a large part of the analog area is now being transferred to the digital domain and digital RF technology plays a key role in enabling this transition.

A pioneer in digital RF technology

The core innovation of Qualinx originates from the PhD research of its founders in Digital Radio Frequency (DRF) technology.

As a spin-off, the company developed and successfully tested a new radio chip capable of receiving geo-positioning information from Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) with a 10 times lower power consumption.

As the electronics industry increasingly moves towards smaller chip size with lower power consumption, the industry has opened for competition.

With its chip available at reduced cost compared to existing solutions and able to detect signals from all major satellite systems including GPS to accurately determine location and time, Qualinx is now gearing to market its product.

The startup says its DRF technology “enables CMOS scaling for GPS-like radios, and thereby a significant reduction in the chip’s power consumption, size and cost price.”

Bringing DRF to market

With the funding, Qualinx is preparing to bring its DRF technology to market.

The startup is preparing to launch its system-on-chip called QLX300+ featuring the world’s smallest and most power-efficient GNSS sensor.

Tom Trill, CEO at Qualinx, says, “The QLX300+ will use as much as 10 times less energy than currently available GNSS devices in the market and will be in mass production next year. As a result of the improved efficiency, the battery life of, for example, fitness trackers and smartwatches can be extended from hours to several days.”

While Qualinx’s initial product is limited to GNSS, the technology can be expanded to create any radio.

The startup is working on a second-generation product called the QLX400 that will combine GNSS with an Internet-of-Things (IoT) radio on a single chip.

With this product, Qualinx aims to bring to market a SoC capable of tracking and communicating a location while barely consuming any power.

One of the overarching themes in the semiconductor industry is one where companies are trying to cram in performance without increasing power consumption.

Apple‘s recent victories with its M-series chip for its laptops is a good example and has forced the likes of Intel to play catchup as well.

Qualinx aims to do that for the radio signal industry with its small chip design and low power consumption.

Trill adds the single-chip solution makes it more secure to ship and track.

He adds, “There is global concern about the security of any asset, especially when it moves. Shipping a product from warehouse to store without breakpoints in connectivity currently requires a multi-chip solution to provide seamless connectivity between classic GNSS and ground based IoT radios. We offer a single-chip solution that can do both. It is universally applicable, affordable and has an ultra-low power budget.”

The investor

Backing Qualinx’s Series A round is FORWARD.one, InnovationQuarter Capital, and Waterman Ventures.

FORWARD.one is a VC firm focussed on high-tech hardware startups and scaleups with €200M under management. The VC firm has backed startups in the field of robotics, semiconductors, photonics, sensors, extended reality and biomanufacturing.

InnovationQuarter, on the other hand, is one of the most active investors. It acts as a lifecycle investor and has funded startups & scaleups in the province of Zuid-Holland.

Waterman Ventures is known for investing in ambitious technology companies and Qualinx is among the most ambitious in the RF technology space.

“We are proud and excited to partner with Qualinx alongside our co-investors,” says Arjan Göbel, partner at FORWARD.one.

“Not often do we see such a fundamental step-change in technology development addressing a large, global and future proof market. Adding their top-tier and fast–growing team to the equation, we are convinced that Qualinx has the potential to replace all existing GNSS and radio communications technology,” adds Gobel.