Clear Shape Technologies Inc. Receives Investments from Intel and KT Venture Group; Intel Capital Leads Round as Company Secures over $5M in Series B Financing.

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Clear Shape Technologies Inc., a semiconductor design for manufacturing (DFM) software and technologies company, has raised more than $5 million in its second round of venture financing, bringing total funding to more than $10 million. The most recent round was led by Intel Capital, Intel Corporation's strategic investment program, with participation from KT Venture Group, the investment partner of KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ:KLAC). Early in 2004 US Venture Partners led the Series A financing with participation from Telos Ventures and AsiaTech Management. The current funding round will be used to help accelerate the development and deployment of Clear Shape's DFM software and technologies.

"Given the semiconductor industry's struggle to resolve the intractable DFM problems, we are extremely pleased to have received funding from these leading companies," said Atul Sharan, Clear Shape president and CEO. "Our mission is to deliver our patented technology to every design team in the world, so they can design confidently for sub-90 nanometers with high yield, maximize the utilization of process technology, and accelerate time to market."

"New tools and technologies in the design for manufacturability market segment are essential in building semiconductor products using ever-increasing complex manufacturing process technologies," said Keith Larson, Intel Capital Managing Director, Manufacturing and Digital Health. "Intel Capital is pleased to lead investments in companies, like Clear Shape, to help accelerate development of technologies that will help design engineers account systematically for manufacturing-related yield issues."

"Clear Shape has a substantial value proposition for their customers," said Robert Lee, General Partner at KT Venture Group. "Their approach is in alignment with KLA-Tencor's strategy in addressing the increasingly urgent manufacturing and yield issues that are now extremely design-dependent."

Jim Hogan, General Partner at Telos Ventures, an early investor in Clear Shape, said, "In my 30-plus years in the semiconductor industry, rarely have I seen a situation where there is so much angst as a result of such fundamental changes as are being currently witnessed in the design to manufacturing chain. The problems associated with lithography, copper and an inadequate rule-based design tools infrastructure are only getting worse. Clear Shape has a strong and talented technical team spanning both design and process technology. They have a highly innovative approach to closing the critical gap in information and knowledge for the semiconductor industry."

About Clear Shape

Clear Shape Technologies, Inc. was founded in 2003 by a team of proven industry veterans with technical expertise in the semiconductor manufacturing and electronic design automation (EDA) industries. The company develops design for manufacturing (DFM) software and technologies that detect potentially catastrophic manufacturing failures during design, improve yield, and enable designers to control, manage and optimize the impact of systematic variation on chip performance, signal integrity, and leakage power while protecting manufacturing IP. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Clear Shape is backed by top-tier venture investors with a track record of extremely successful investments in the semiconductor industry. For more information, see www.clearshape.com.

About Intel Capital

Intel Capital, Intel's strategic investment program, focuses on making equity investments and acquisitions to grow the Internet economy in support of Intel's strategic interests. Intel Capital invests in hardware, software and services companies in several market segments, including computing, networking, and wireless communications. For more information, visit www.intel.com/capital.

About KT Venture Group LLC 

KT Venture Group is the investment partner of KLA-Tencor, a leader of process control and yield management solutions. Headquartered in San Jose, the venture capital group was the first of its kind established by a company within the semiconductor equipment sector. The group combines the private VC-like structure and execution with unique corporate VC benefits. For more information, visit www.ktventuregroup.com.

About KLA-Tencor

KLA-Tencor is the world leader in yield management and process control solutions for semiconductor manufacturing and related industries. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., the company has sales and service offices around the world. An S&P 500 company, KLA-Tencor is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol KLAC.

About US Venture Partners

U.S. Venture Partners (www.usvp.com) is a leading Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm dedicated to helping entrepreneurs build companies that are leaders in their industry. USVP focuses on early stage opportunities in sectors, which include semiconductors and semiconductor infrastructure, digital communications and networking systems, internet and eCommmerce infrastructure, enterprise and technical software, and medical devices and biopharmaceuticals.

Since its inception in 1981, USVP has raised more than $2.5 billion in eight funds. USVP partners have been the lead investors in such notable industry leaders as Sun Microsystems (SUNW), SanDisk (SNDK), Check Point Software Technologies (CHKP), Artisan Components (acquired by ARM: ARMHY), CADMOS (acquired by Cadence: CDN), EPIC Design (acquired by Synopsys: SNPS), PDF Solutions (PDFS), and Stratacom/Cisco (CSCO), in the information technology sectors, and Amgen (AMGN), where USVP founding partner Bill Bowes was the founding seed investor.