Qualcomm To Acquire Mithril Portfolio Company NUVIA

AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mithril Capital said today that its portfolio company, NUVIA Inc., has agreed to be acquired by Qualcomm, Inc. for approximately $1.4 billion before working capital and other adjustments. Mithril led NUVIA's $240 million Series B financing in September 2020 with an investment of approximately $70 million, at which time Mithril founder and managing general partner Ajay Royan joined its board of directors. Mithril is NUVIA's largest institutional shareholder, holding a 12.5% stake.

"NUVIA epitomizes what we look for in a business," Mr. Royan said. "NUVIA was launched to reimagine silicon for a world creating exponentially more data than it can process. The company's co-founders--Gerard Williams III, Manu Gulati, and John Bruno--are among the leading silicon designers of this century, having spearheaded generations of successful efforts at Google, Apple, AMD, and ARM, among other companies."

"NUVIA's combination with Qualcomm promises to expand and further accelerate this team's vision for superior silicon technology across the compute spectrum," Mr. Royan said, adding that "NUVIA's unique approach overcomes false trade-offs between energy efficiency and chip performance.  We are proud to have partnered with NUVIA through an epochal inflection point in the semiconductor industry."

"From the outset, Ajay was focused on working with our board and team to unlock the full potential of our ambition," said Gerard Williams III, co-founder and CEO of NUVIA, adding, "we are thrilled that our journey together has culminated in such a historic opportunity."

Mithril investor Peter Thiel stated: "One of the things that Mithril has done incredibly well is to stay disciplined and differentiated. Ajay catches a wave before others do."

The proposed acquisition of NUVIA is the latest in a series of successful investments for Mithril.

In February 2019, Johnson & Johnson purchased Auris Health for more than $3.4 billion in the largest-ever acquisition of a venture-backed medical technology company.  Mithril was the largest shareholder in Auris.

In September 2020, Mithril portfolio company Palantir Technologies went public via a direct listing on the NYSE. In December 2020, U.S. artificial intelligence-driven energy storage company Stem Inc., a Mithril portfolio company, agreed to merge with Star Peak Energy Transition Corp. at a valuation of roughly $1.35 billion. Star Peak was founded with an ESG focus and is led by Chairman Michael Morgan, lead director of Kinder Morgan, Inc., one of the largest energy infrastructure companies in North America, a company he joined at its founding in 1997. 

Mr. Royan commented that he looks forward to more of the same in 2021 and beyond.  "I feel very fortunate to be able to work with such an extraordinarily talented and dedicated group of founders and their teams.  I look forward to several more impactful years across our portfolio."

About Mithril
Mithril is a venture capital firm cofounded by Ajay Royan and Peter Thiel.  Agnostic to sector and geography, the firm invests and partners with teams that use technology to build valuable and lasting businesses, often in industries long overdue for change. Each of these businesses is unique, but all face common challenges to unlocking long-term growth. Mithril helps navigate these critical inflection points and invests in size and with conviction. Mithril is headquartered in Austin, TX.

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SOURCE Mithril Capital