Tough times ahead for all concerned but potentially tougher for those startups that need to run faster on limited resources to gain a foothold in the market.

So as 2009 gradually cranks into gear here are my nominations for 'Ten Startups to Watch in 2009'. The list only focuses on European based startups in the power management application arena that have the most chance of 'making it' to 2010 and beyond. It will be interesting to see how these fledging organizations fare in 2009. Will they all succeed? Will they all fail? How many of them be absorbed by larger rivals? Will one of them grow so quickly they make a bid for NXP or Infineon? Time will tell.

The list is compiled alphabetically.

Arctic Silicon Devices AS (Trondheim, Norway)

Arctic Silicon Devices AS (Trondheim, Norway), which is a startup company led by executives previously with Nordic Semiconductor ASA, has already announced its Snowflake family of analog-to-digital converters which have been designed to consume a fraction of the power of market leading ADCs at better or superior performance.

The Snowflake family consists of the following products: the ASD0500: 13-bit dual channel 15- to 80-MSPS ADC, with power dissipation from 30 to 102 mW; the ASD0501: 13-bit single channel 15- to 80-MSPS ADC with power dissipation from 19 to 60 mW; the ASD0400: a 10-bit dual channel 15-80 MSPS ADC, power dissipation from 24 to 78 mW ASD0401: 10-bit single channel 15 to 80-MSPS ADC with power dissipation from 15 to 46 mW.

ASD employs a design technique where a physical optimum is found for biasing any given analog configuration. The company is targeting portable industrial markets such as medical and instrumentation.

During the first quarter of 2008, ASD secured 25 million Norwegian Krone (about $4.5 million) in a second round of funding.

The second round investors were Incitia Ventures AS and Proventure Seed AS investing 20 million and 5 million NOK respectively. Proventure Seed has already provided 4 million NOK (about $700,000) in October 2007.

ASD's CTO is Oystein Moldsvor who was previously CEO of Chipidea Microelectronica Norway AS.

Related article:

Arctic Silicon claims ADC low-power ground

Related link:

http://www.arcticsilicon.com

CamSemi (Cambridge, UK)

CamSemi was named 'NMI Start-up of the Year' 2008 in the UK's National Microelectronics Institute (NMI) 12th Anniversary Awards. The award picks out only one early-stage business per year that demonstrates the most exciting growth potential.

CamSemi was founded to bring to market a new generation of power management ICs that help manufacturers more easily meet the world's increasing demand to save energy but at acceptable cost. CamSemi's products are based on patented and proprietary technologies including intelligent control architectures and PowerBrane ultra high voltage (UHV) process technology. The company's initial product offerings are targeting the switch mode power supply and lighting sectors.

CamSemi's power management ICs aim to optimize energy-efficient offline power conversion. The company's solutions are designed to help manufacturers of mains-powered electronics develop smaller, lighter and more energy-efficient products while also reducing their design timescales and system costs.

Since its inception CamSemi has shipped its 10 millionth C2470 RDFC controller chip. The company's C2470 family of controllers and novel Resonant Discontinuous Forward Converter (RDFC) topology was launched in late 2007 to help manufacturers replace bulky embedded or external linear power supplies with low cost, energy-efficient alternatives.

In November 2008 CamSemi unveiled its C2140 series of Primary Side Sensing (PSS) flyback controllers, which were claimed to offer 'best in class' current and voltage regulation of +/- 5 percent and targets high volume, universal input applications rated up to 8 W.

The innovative PSS controllers are designed to help manufacturers of chargers for mobile phones, Bluetooth headsets, digital cameras and other high volume consumer products cut component count, while developing more reliable and lower-cost designs to meet Energy Star 2.0, European code of conduct and other worldwide energy-efficiency regulations.

CamSemi's C2140 family eliminates the need for optocouplers and all secondaryside feedback circuitry, as well as any additional components that designers may need to specify to improve the current regulation from a typical PSS flyback design.

In May 2008 Denmark's BankInvest Group invested $8 million in the Cambridge-based company. CamSemi's C round funding brought the total sum the company has raised to $34 million (£17 million).

CamSemi was founded in 2002 by University of Cambridge scientists Prof Gehan Amaratunga and Dr Florin Udrea

Related articles:

Energy harvesting feeds ultra-low-power device growth

PSS flyback controllers offer 5 percent I and V regulation

Related link:

www.camsemi.com