Irish chip company raises €5 million

Lightstorm raised the funding from Trinity Venture Capital and Delta Partners in Dublin. Existing investors, including Enterprise Ireland and the Western Development Commission, also reinvested in the firm. Bryan Campbell, co-founder and chief executive of Lightstorm, said the company would expand and have its first product available in the fourth quarter of next year. The company is developing semiconductor solutions for broadband networks, but will operate a fabless model and will not manufacture chips. It employs 18 people in Galway, Dublin and the US, but expects to have 32 staff within six months.