"Ember on track to ship 10 million chips in 2010"

It is always a treat to read good things about a portfolio company. Now that we have a busy U.S. business, one can no longer confine the morning reading to the domestic print and electronic media.

According to Mass High Tech, Wellington Financial Fund III portfolio co. Boston-based Ember is going to ship 10 million chips this year, having just announced earlier in 2010 that it had produced its 10 millionth chip (see prior post “Ember sells 10 millionth chip” May 4-10) in aggregate since the company’s founding in 2001 — that’s quite the ramp.

Ember produces ZigBee chips, which are used in smart meters, home automation and security systems. These low power devices communicate data wirelessly, perhaps running the network that will make the smart gird work in your house.

You can find ZigBee chips in your power meter, smart thermostat (Toronto’s ecobee) and RF controlled home theater system (Control 4).

Here’s the excerpt from Mass High Tech:

Meanwhile, Boston-based Ember is leading the small but growing ZigBee chip industry. ZigBee is considered the leading technology for the wireless communications behind smart meters and other “smart home” devices. The technologies monitor energy use in buildings with an aim of reducing consumption and cost.

In May, Ember announced that it had shipped 10 million ZigBee chips since its founding in 2001 – the first company to achieve the milestone. Yet the pace is picking up fast; Ember is on track to ship 10 million chips in 2010 alone, said Robert LeFort, the company’s CEO.

Ember’s revenue is on track to grow by more than 300 percent this year from 2009, with the company now seeing revenue of $9 million to $10 million per quarter, LeFort said. Ember achieved profitability in the first quarter of this year, and has grown its staff to 50 from 40 over the last several months, he said.

Ember’s existing VC investors include: DFJ, Grandbanks Capital, New Atlantic Ventures, Polaris Venture Partners, RRE and Vulcan.

Congrats to the Ember team on the fabulous momentum.

MRM