Renesas Electronics Corporation, a provider of advanced semiconductor solutions, announced an investment in Arduino's new Series B funding round. The partnership with Arduino allows Renesas to make its wide range of products available for Arduino technology platforms used by its worldwide community of developers.
Arduino was initially developed as an easy-to-use tool for rapid prototyping aimed at students with no experience in electronics and programming. Arduino has expanded to offer tools for education and professionals. Now, the company is focused on empowering a new generation of professional engineers with enterprise-scale applications.
Arduino recently revealed plans to expand its portfolio of hardware, software, connectivity and developer tools for professionals and businesses, broadening its offering beyond makers and students. The strategy is designed to deliver greater speed, simplicity and power inherent to Arduino's innovative platform for businesses.
Arduino complements Renesas' global strategy of reaching a broader range of customers by enabling designers around the world to access the Arduino open source platform. To help advance Arduino's expansion plans and vision for the company, Renesas is investing $10 million in Arduino's $32 million Series B round. The funding will also provide Arduino access to a new level of technology with Renesas' industry-leading technology portfolio, including MCUs/MPUs, analog, power and connectivity products.
This investment is significant for Renesas as part of its strategy to expand its mass-market business and reach new customers within the Arduino community of 30 million developers worldwide.
“We are excited to be part of Arduino’s new strategy and offer them more options by giving them access to Renesas’ extensive technology, tools and customer base,” said Chris Allexandre, Senior Vice President, Head of Corporate Digital Sales and Marketing, IoT and Infrastructure Business Unit of Renesas. “We look forward to working together to accelerate Arduino’s open source technology and provide the company’s engineers with easier access to it.”