Embedded Linux company gets $2M in financing

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Oct. 17, 2003

Esfia Inc. announced that it has received $2 million in its first major round of financing, from four key investors. Esfia's CEO, Eric Lee, says Esfia will use the money to launch a line of RISC-based single board computers (SBCs) targeting vertical markets.

"Esfia has extended its business from embedded Linux software and middleware to embedded RISC-based SBCs with Integrated development environments (IDEs). This funding sets the stage for strong growth," explained Lee.

Esfia started in Nov. of 2000 with plans to offer a range of services, tools, and support around open source software, according to an interview with CEO Eric Lee at the time. It has since marketed RedBlue Linux for PDAs and webpads, and also several hardware/software PDA reference designs including several recent versions based on Samsung ARM processors.

Lee says Esfia's earlier seed financing investors included FIC, "a dominant force in technology development and manufacturing fields," and Sunsino Ventures Group -- both of whom are are participating in the current round of funding. Esfia's two new patrons are Unitech, a global designer and manufacturer of data capturing products, and Realtek, a leading Ethernet and Fast Ethernet silicon provider.

Esfia's current business objective is to be a leading supplier of RISC-based single-board computer (SBC) technology aimed at vertical markets. According to Lee, Esfia will differentiate itself from other SBC/blade providers by emphasizing open standards, nimbleness, flexibility for customization, and high performance through technology leadership. Lee believes the company can help embedded platform system integrators cut traditional development times in their target markets by as much as 70 percent.

Typical applications for Esfia's SBC and system-on-module products currently include test instruments, data acquisition devices, security equipment, networking products, communications and telecommunications devices, and multimedia devices, Lee says.

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