Beceem Communications

Beceem Communications

Based: Santa Clara, CA

Founded: 2003

www.beceem.com [1]

[1]Why it’s Fierce: Beceem was the first to release a terminal chipset based on the 802.16e mobile WiMAX standard, and despite some of the bigger players entering the sector, the company has held onto its market leadership. And it’s pretty smart about its target markets, too. India could very well be the biggest market for WiMAX, and Santa Clara-based Beceem has put itself right in the heart of development, investing significantly in R&D and making a commitment to accelerate WiMAX deployments in that country. During the past year, Beceem got certified by Microsoft, won an embed deal with both Samsung and Sanyo and brought its VC total up to $90 million after a $40 million round led by NEC.

What to look for: With huge rounds of VC from high-profile companies like NTT DoCoMo, Samsung, NEC and Intel, look for Beceem to continue to integrate and scale its technology globally.