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Samsung invests in Utah's Fusion-io [The Salt Lake Tribune]
(Salt Lake Tribune (UT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 22--Fusion-io, the Utah company that is making waves with its new computer-memory devices, has received a sizable investment from Samsung, the Korean company that is the largest manufacturer of flash memory chips.
Fusion-io characterized the cash infusion as a strategic investment in its business that is making a foray into companies that use large servers for their computer operations.
David Flynn, co-founder, president and chief technical officer, would not disclose the amount of the investment, saying only that it was in the millions. Fusion-io uses Samsung chips to create its computer-storage products.
"They felt we had a high likelihood of being a good return on investment and being able to drive a large volume of their products," said Flynn.
Fusion-io makes computer memory using the chips instead of the traditional disk drives. The devices are more stable, faster, smaller, cheaper and use less electricity than disk drives, the company says.
Flynn said the investment came out of discussions with Samsung Electronic Corp.'s vice chair and CEO, Yoon-Woo Lee, about Fusion-io and its products.
"We had an opportunity to meet with Vice Chairman Lee ... and we got to talking about what we do and we were just finishing up a round of financing and figured it would be good for Samsung to be invested in our success," said Flynn.
Samsung did not return an e-mail seeking comment.
Fusion-io has been rapidly growing
since it launched in 2007. As a sign of its growing stature, Steve Wozniak, a rock-star in the computer world for his role as the cofounder of Apple, joined the Holladay-area company as chief scientist.
Last week, the company announced that its products were being used by MySpace, the social-networking site.
Using Fusion-io storage units in its servers has allowed MySpace to significantly cut its electrical use, leading to a reduction of greenhouse gas production and also reduced the floor space needed for servers, the companies said.
"We have more than 800 customers in just over a year of selling products, and several of those are for multimillion dollars in products," said Flynn. "So this is lots of customers and some very, very big customers."
The privately held company does not disclose its financial figures, but Bob Brumfield, marketing and communication director, said the company has experienced 80 percent revenue growth every quarter over the previous one since its launch.
tharvey@sltrib.com
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Copyright (c) 2009, The Salt Lake Tribune
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