Intel providing chip technology to startup led by co-investor of CEO Lip-Bu Tan in rare deal

Intel has provided access to some of its processor technology to a new startup, according to a source and documents reviewed by Reuters, in a rare move for the U.S. chipmaker.

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan ‌and the startup's ⁠boss ⁠are longtime co-investors.

The startup, RosaicLabs Inc., filed its first Delaware incorporation documents in May, according to a certificate of incorporation from the state. Reuters could not locate a web page or LinkedIn profile for the company, as is common with early-stage chip startups operating in secrecy. Rosaic's CEO is Amarjit Gill, according to an amended filing in July, a seasoned venture capital investor and chip industry executive who helped Tan build the founding team at another chip company called Rivos, which Meta acquired last year, outbidding Intel. Tan was chairman ⁠of Rivos ‌at the time. Tan and Gill both made seed-stage investments in a third chip startup called Nuvia, which was sold to Qualcomm.


Intel declined to comment.

ROSAIC GAINS ACCESS TO ATOM ⁠TECHNOLOGY: SOURCE Rosaic's founding team includes veterans from Rivos, according to a ​source briefed on the matter and the documents. Amit Parikh, the former finance ​chief at Rivos, signed the incorporation document.

Intel is providing Rosaic access to its Atom technology, the building blocks of central processors, which run on the company's x86 architecture, the source said.

Providing access to Rosaic is a rare move by Intel, which has historically not widely licensed pieces of its x86 architecture or provided Atom tech. Intel's Atom technology is designed to operate with modest energy and generate little heat, good ‌attributes for mobile and edge devices.

Intel aims to ship register-transfer level (RTL) code for the Atom processor tech to the startup, which designers use to describe chip functions, the ​source said.

Doing ​so grants a customer comprehensive ⁠exposure to Intel's intellectual property and would allow the customer to build their own custom design, according to a veteran chip executive.

Parikh and Gill did not respond to LinkedIn messages.

Rosaic added a description of ​the company's equity structure, including the number of preferred and common shares, according to the amended Delaware filing dated July 24.

The amended document indicates Rosaic can seek a seed funding round of $10 million, according to a Reuters analysis of the amended filing. Executives would be free to incur capital expenditures under $5 million without investor or board approval.