3i backs DiBcom as it raises 24.5m round to extend mobile TV leadership

Welcomes five new international investors. Partech International leads the round of financing.

Paris, August 29, 2005 - DiBcom, a fabless semiconductor company specializing in chipsets for mobile TV, is pleased to announce the closing of its fourth round of financing for a total amount of € 24.5 million; the largest venture-backed financing for a French IT company in 2005. Five international investors have joined existing investors in the new capital round: Partech International which leads this round of investment, Intel Capital, 3i, WI Harper and UMC. This funding allows DiBcom to significantly expand its sales and marketing presence in Asia and the United States, as well as extend its mobile TV product roadmap.

Founded in June 2000 and headquartered in France, DiBcom designs and markets semiconductors for the reception of Digital Television in portable and mobile applications. DiBcom''s technology has been used by a number of tier 1 customers in the automotive, notebook PC, cell phone, and portable media player (PMP) market segments, who leverage the superior performance, power and integration capabilities of DiBcom''s products.

Digital Terrestrial TV has been launched across all European and Asian geographies that have adopted DVB-T as a standard for digitization of TV signals.  Concurrently, with most broadcasters rapidly extending existing DVB-T infrastructure to deliver programming onto mobile phones and other hand-held devices, DiBcom has taken clear pole position in offering the highest performance DVB-H solutions to handset vendors worldwide.

"It''s an exciting time in mobile communications and DVB-H is an important technology for the industry," stated Dr. Jon Peddie, President Jon Peddie Research, the leading market research firm in multimedia, based in Tiburon California.  "The demonstration of DiBcom''s chipset in a mobile phone is a major milestone and a clear indication that 2005 is shaping up to be the year of mobile TV."

Growth and Continued Technology Leadership

The main objective of the new funding round is to further accelerate DiBcom''s growth strategy. To that end, the company has invested in Sales and Marketing as well as continued Research & Development, aimed at ubiquitous integration of DiBcom''s technology into any type of device benefiting from mobile TV reception.

"DiBcom was the first company to target mobile-TV receivers using broadcasting technology, and introduced the first mobile DVB-T receiver back in 2002.  With this clear technology lead and strong financial backing, we are confident DiBcom will further extend its position in the industry," says Yannick Lévy, CEO of DiBcom.

Financial and Strategic Funding Partners

DiBcom welcomes the arrival of three new value-added venture capital investors as shareholders.

For over more than 20 years, Partech International "Venture Model" has been instrumental in building innovative start-ups into global leaders. Thanks to its international presence, Partech International will assist DiBcom in its global expansion.

"We at Partech believe broadcast TV on mobile and portable devices will shortly be a huge success across many segments of customers through many different types of devices from car TV to handset. We are very excited to be part of this venture and to assist DiBcom in becoming a leader in mobile Digital TV," states Jean-Marc Patouillaud, General Partner- Partech International.

3i is bringing its huge network of customers and contacts worldwide as well as its unique experience of investment in fabless semiconductor companies (recently witnessed by the successful IPO of CSR on the London Stock Market). Ian Lobley, Senior Partner, is joining DiBcom''s Board of Directors.

WI Harper will also make DiBcom benefit from its network of customers and contacts, especially in Asia.

After Freescale Semiconductor, DiBcom also invited two new strategic participants to join its investors group. UMC, a world-leading semiconductor foundry headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, has been a key supplier to DiBcom for several years and will continue to provide superior foundry services and allocation in order to support DiBcom''s growth. Intel Capital has identified in DiBcom a leading provider of digital TV solutions for both the notebook and the mobile phone and will assist DiBcom in offering its solutions to Intel''s major customers in these markets.

"We are pleased to invest in DiBcom and support the efforts of rolling out DVB-H for mobile TV on our Xscale handheld and Centrino notebook platforms," said Sam Arditi, VP and general manager of Intel''s Communications Handheld Group.  "DiBcom has been the first to market in DVB-H silicon for handheld devices, and a leading DVB-T supplier to the automobile and notebook PC market segments for several years.  We see significant opportunities for mobile TV in these platforms going forward."

Full Support by Existing Shareholders

The new investors join investors SGAM Alternative Investments, Convergent Capital, Crédit Agricole Private Equity, Vertex Venture Capital Israel, Cipio Partners, and Freescale Semiconductor all of whom reconfirmed their support for DiBcom and its market opportunity with follow-on investments. 
"SGAM Alternative Investments is proud to have been the first investor to work with a team of such high caliber. Since 2000, we have been impressed by the team''s track record of delivering high quality solutions on time," said Xavier Lorphelin, Partner, SGAM AI. "We believe in the disruptive potential of DVB to become a leading broadcast technology, especially as it evolves from fixed to portable and mobile applications." 
DiBcom was assisted by Clipperton Finance, an advisory firm specializing in High-Tech and Media.