Lockheed Martin [LMT] on Monday said its venture capital arm has made a strategic investment in he semiconductor company IQ-Analog Corp., which is focused on designing next-generation, ultra-high speed data converters.
Lockheed Martin said its investment will help speed IQ-Analog’s technology and product development.
“This investment enhances Lockheed Martin’s data conversion capability and also helps strengthen IQ-Analog’s growth potential, “Chris Moran, Lockheed Martin Ventures vice president, said in a statement. “We see immediate applications in defense programs and believe the potential is even larger on the commercial side. We look forward to working with their team as they expand into commercial markets, including wireless communications, Internet of Things and automotive radar.”
Lockheed Martin didn’t disclose the amount of its investment in IQ-Analog but it led a series B investment round in the San Diego-based semiconductor company.
Semiconductors are the link between sensors and digital signal processing.
“Our technology will initiate a new class of digital sensors for the military, enabling the power of digital signal processing to replace aging analog phase array antenna systems,” Mike Kappes, CEO of IQ-Analog, said in a statement. “This investment from Lockheed Martin also strengthens our commercial strategy and ability to succeed among 5G technology providers addressing the transition to modern phased array antennas.”
Under terms of the investment, IQ-Analog will have access to Lockheed Martin’s technical expertise and business analysts and gain entry points into major defense platforms for their products.
Earlier this year IQ-Analog received a $4.5 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop and validate a new analog to digital converter architecture based on a patented innovation called Traveling Pulse Wave Quantization to increase the data rate of the conversion process with less than half the power of existing approaches.