- GeneralM&A
- January 13, 2021
- 4 minutes read
Qualcomm Buys Chip Startup Nuvia For $1.4B
The chipmaking giant Qualcomm has reached a deal to acquire Nuvia, a two-year-old chip startup founded and run by former…
The chipmaking giant Qualcomm has reached a deal to acquire Nuvia, a two-year-old chip startup founded and run by former Apple executives. Qualcomm will pay $1.4 billion for the company, marking a very big exit for a startup that has existed for only two years.
Nuvia is led by CEO Gerard Williams, a former Apple chip design executive that was actually sued by the iPhone maker over alleged breach of duty after he left Apple to start Nuvia. Now with a $1.4 billion exit, he seems to have come out on top of the situation, at least monetary wise.
Nuvia designs chips for data centers, using Arm technology for its processors but designing its own cores. That Qualcomm is acquiring the company looks very strategic as the company seeks a competitive edge in the data center chip market, after having dominated that of mobile chips.
A Nuvia acquisition seems to further the rivalry between Qualcomm and Apple, given that an Apple lawsuit against Nuvia’s co-founder and CEO Gerard Williams is still ongoing. Apple and Qualcomm famously sparred over patent royalties for a long time before reaching a settlement in 2019 that was lucrative on Qualcomm’s end.
Given Qualcomm’s deal with Apple, the company could stave off the lawsuit from Apple against its former executive Gerard Williams, who has agreed to join Qualcomm along with two other Nuvia co-founders, Manu Gulati and John Bruno, following the completion of the acquisition.
A $1.4 billion acquisition signals a big payday both for Nuvia’s founders and investors. In its two-year span, Nuvia has raised nearly $300 million in venture funding from investors including Fidelity, BlackRock, and Temasek Holdings.
“The NUVIA team are proven innovators, and like Qualcomm, have a strong heritage in creating leading technology and products. I am very excited to have them join our team,” Qualcomm’s President and CEO-Elect, Cristiano Amon, said in a press statement.
