The entity’s combined portfolio of products will continue to power the Internet of Things. Northzone has been an investor in Energy Micro since 2010, and has achieved a 2.5x multiple on its investment.
Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, Energy Micro has 85 employees worldwide, and is behind the industry’s most power-efficient 32-bit MCUs and multi-frequency, multi-protocol wireless RF solutions based on the ARM Cortex-M architecture. Northzone invested in the company alongside Investinor whilst Energy Micro was in the process of developing the second generation of its microcontroller family, after entering the market with its first product, the 32-bit EFM 32 Gecko, only 6 months earlier. Consuming a quarter of the energy of existing 8-, 16- or 32-bit microcontrollers, the products have been well received in energy sensitive application sectors, including energy metering, home and building automation, alarm and security systems and medical equipment. Importantly, the company truly hit a breakthrough in recent years as the uptake of portable electronics and the internet of things took off. Northzone has been active in the company’s development from an incumbent to an undisputed industry leader.