Chirp Microsystems | Home - Chirp Microsystems

SAY HELLO TO THE NEW CHAPTER FOR CHIRP

From its inception, Chirp’s mission has been to build a more connected world using the magic of ultrasonics. Chirp’s technology was originally developed at the Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center (BSAC) at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, Davis. Leveraging state-of-the-art semiconductor manufacturing, our MEMS technology brings ultrasonics into the 21st-century, enabling us to create tiny, ultra-low power ultrasonic devices for high-volume, pervasive computing applications and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Today we are excited to announce that Chirp has been acquired by TDK to further our journey to bring our magic to more people in this world.

Over the last five years, we’ve developed a line of extremely low power, ultrasonic 3D-sensing solutions to empower numerous consumer electronics, smart home, and industrial automation devices. We are very proud that we launched the world’s smallest, lowest-power ultrasonic time-of-flight (ToF) sensors, the CH-101 and CH-201, last year. All of these efforts have been driven by our passionate team, partners, and customers who have shared our vision to bring ultrasonic sensing to mass market consumer devices.

TDK Corporation is a globally leading electronics company based in Tokyo, Japan. It was established in 1935 to commercialize ferrite, a key material in electronic and magnetic products. TDK's portfolio includes passive components, such as ceramic, aluminum electrolytic and film capacitors, ferrites and inductors, high-frequency products, and piezo and protection components, as well as sensors and sensor systems and power supplies. These products are marketed under the product brands TDK, EPCOS, InvenSense, Micronas, Tronics and TDK-Lambda. TDK's further main product groups include magnetic application products, energy devices, and flash memory application devices. In fiscal 2017, TDK posted total sales of USD 10.5 billion and employed about 100,000 people worldwide.

Our team is excited to be part of the TDK family. Chirp’s ultrasonic sensor technology is complementary to TDK’s ultrasonic fingerprint sensor products, the TDK MEMS microphone product line, and the EPCOS’ line of conventional piezoelectric transducer products. Chirp’s sensors also are synergistic with InvenSense’s inertial sensors and sensor fusion software libraries. We believe together we can bring ultrasonics to a wide variety of products at an even greater speed and scale than we can on our own.

We want to see all drones, robots, smart speakers, VR/AR devices, and connected cars in the world using Chirp technology one day. The opportunity to join an organization that shares this vision comes at a crucial time, when we have our first design-wins and a healthy pipeline of customers with high-volume production demands. As we become part of the TDK family, we will continue to work hard and bring Chirp’s technology to even more people.

Thanks to all those who supported us along the way. Our sincere gratitude especially to our investors, including Innobridge Capital Management, Draper Nexus, Vertical Ventures, Atlantic Bridge, and many angels from the Valley and beyond, to the University of California and the Skydeck Accelerator, and to America’s Seed Fund, the NSF SBIR program, for investing in crucial technologies like Chirp’s when it’s not fashionable to do so. We are extremely grateful to have been on this journey with you and we look forward to the new chapter for Chirp!

Click HERE to access our regular homepage