HaiLa Technologies Inc. announces it has raised USD$10.35 million from new strategic investor Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. as well as a group of existing investors. Specifically, they are Stanford University, Mika, Ecofuel Fund, Chrysalix, and TandemLaunch. HaiLa is a Canadian fabless semiconductor and software startup company that develops highly power-efficient radio communications solutions.

“HaiLa’s team is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of power efficiency in wireless. Whether it is their use of backscatter or other implementation technologies to achieve very power-efficient radio communications, Murata’s own sustainability focus is very aligned with their path. We look forward to supporting the HaiLa team with this investment and bringing their technology to market,” said Mehul Udani, Vice President of Corporate Technology & Innovation, Murata Americas.

Mainly, the new funding will help drive R&D development and allow the team to grow. Also, it will be used to bring HaiLa’s ultra low-power system-on-chip (SoC) solutions to market. Accordingly, these will support its mission to provide breakthrough power-efficient communications solutions. These solutions would enable ambient IoT and reduce wireless sensor battery waste.

“We are really pleased to have the support of Murata Electronics, a global leader in wireless technology and semiconductors, in conjunction with our supporting investors,” said Derek Kuhn, CEO, HaiLa. “HaiLa and Murata share common sustainability goals. Our collective mission is to drive down power consumption in connected IoT sensing devices. (Together), we aim to work towards a level of power efficiency that reduces the overall battery requirement. Specifically, this new strategic partnership together with the new funding is a testament that the industry and investment communities recognize the importance of HaiLa’s objectives.”

HaiLa is focused on making the most power-efficient communications possible over existing radio protocols like Wi-Fi, with the goal of enabling ambient IoT sensing. HaiLa’s ultra-low power SoC products will lower operating expenses related to changing batteries. Also, they will reduce the number of batteries required for a connected device’s lifetime. This will enable wireless devices to last longer on the same battery, use smaller batteries, and in turn see fewer batteries in landfills.