Intel acquires start-up Ineda Systems

Intel has acquired Ineda Systems, a Hyderabad-based start-up fabless semiconductor product company. The amount for the acquisition has not been disclosed yet.

According to a report, the all-cash deal sealed last week is more in the nature of an acquihire - a transaction in which a company is acquired mainly for the skill sets of its workforce rather than products or services.

Intel has acquired around 100 engineers from Ineda, primarily for their skills in graphics, an area where the US giant has chalked out ambitious plans. It has been learnt that Intel will also be acquiring the leased Ineda Systems office in Kondapur, located near Google, which currently houses the engineering talent acquired.

Dasaradha Gude and Balaji Kanigicherla founded Ineda after Gude quit as AMD India managing director. Gude remained an investor in Ineda though he went on to set up Invecas in 2014 and regained 100% stake in Ineda in Nov 2018.

The start-up was in the news in 2013-14 for its design and development of low-power Dhanush chips for wearable devices and had raised over $60 million from big-ticket investors, including Samsung Catalyst Fund, Qualcomm Ventures, Walden-Riverwood Ventures, Imagination Technologies, among others, but ran into rough weather after it shifted gears to automotive technologies.