Asides

Ambiq® Enables Singapore’s TraceTogether™ Token to Help Fight Against COVID-19

Ambiq partners with Excelpoint and iWOW to deliver critical components supporting Singapore’s efforts in combating the pandemic; anchors and builds Singapore APAC base with strong support from existing investor EDBI

Austin, TX – December 7, 2021

Ambiq, a technology platform and solutions provider recognized in ultra-low power microcontrollers (MCU), System-on-Chips (SoC), and Real-time Clocks (RTC), today announced its ongoing partnerships with Excelpoint, a leading regional electronics components distributor providing quality components, engineering design services; iWOW, a Singapore-based company that specializes in the development and supply of IoT solutions to supply the TraceTogether token; and EDBI, a Singapore-based global investor. EDBI led Ambiq’s Series E fundraising in 2018, and has been a solid pillar of support to the company’s regional market expansion plans, in particular the building up of its APAC base in Singapore.

Singapore developed the TraceTogether Programme to combat COVID-19 through community contact tracing. As the country continues to combat the pandemic, aggressive contact tracing has been identified to be a key contributor, alongside expanded and faster testing and vaccination, to keeping COVID-19 under control. Powered by the Ambiq Apollo3 Blue microcontroller (MCU), the token is a physical device using Bluetooth signals to trace others nearby. Besides being accurate, secured, safe, and in a small form factor, the Apollo3 Blue delivers the necessary performance without sacrificing battery life. The token is expected to last 4 to 6 months without a recharge.

The fruitful partnership with Excelpoint in delivering the TraceTogether token is also a significant milestone for Ambiq as the company established its 5th Center of Excellence in Singapore last year with immense support from EDBI, and continues to expand its regional team. Singapore is uniquely positioned to play a critical role in driving continuous growth in the ASEAN region. As Ambiq diversifies and expands its businesses worldwide, its commitment and investment in Singapore are crucial in ensuring future success.

“As the global pandemic continues to present uncertain, ever-changing situations, we need to stay vigilant while the vaccines are being rolled out,” said Fumihide Esaka, Chairman and CEO of Ambiq. “We are privileged to have the collaboration with EDBI, Excelpoint, and iWOW, and are proud of the results we see in the Singapore TraceTogether token.”

Free of charge to all Singapore residents, the token captures proximity data via Bluetooth technology stored only on the device itself. The token will automatically delete its stored data after 25 days and not capture GPS / geolocation data.

In the event that you or those you have been in close contact with test positive for COVID-19, the Ministry of Health will approach you to upload your data for contact tracing. For more information, please visit https://support.tracetogether.gov.sg/hc/en-sg

Quotes

EDBI

“EDBI’s deep and longstanding collaboration with Ambiq has led to the company providing critical support to Singapore’s TraceTogether token project, which has become synonymous with Singapore’s successful efforts to combat COVID-19. We are proud to be a close partner of the company as they accelerate their expansion across the region through their Center of Excellence and APAC base here,” said Ms Chu Swee Yeok, CEO and President of EDBI.

Excelpoint

Mr. Albert Phuay Yong Hen, Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer of Excelpoint, commented, “Excelpoint is proud to be partnering with Ambiq to join the fight against the spread of COVID-19 by supporting and distributing the Ambiq Apollo3 Blue MCU in Singapore’s TraceTogether Token. Being a total solutions provider with an extensive sales network comprising both public and private sector players, this partnership highlights Excelpoint’s strengths in demand generation alongside our technical expertise. Given Ambiq’s cutting-edge technology, we see many opportunities ahead. We are excited to further strengthen our relationship with Ambiq as an ecosystem partner in our PlanetSpark Innovation Centre[1]. Such collaborations will be key amidst this period for us to deepen our reach into different markets.”

iWOW

Mr. Jer Yaw CHEN, Senior VP IoT, commented, “iWOW, in consortium with SIIX Singapore Pte Ltd, is privileged to develop, manufacture and distribute the TraceTogether Token incorporating Ambiq’s Apollo3 Blue MCU as supported by Excelpoint. Together, we were able to bring a solution with demanding targets in the areas of power consumption, RF performance, security, and high volume market delivery. This project allowed iWOW to bring its deep wireless product development experience and expertise to contribute to Singapore’s COVID-19 contact tracing efforts. We value the support given by Ambiq and Excelpoint, and recognize the success brought about by this partnership. We are confident of deeper collaborations in time to come.

About

EDBI

Investing since 1991, EDBI is a Singapore-based global investor in select high growth technology sectors ranging from Information & Communication Technology (ICT), Emerging Technology (ET), Healthcare (HC), and promising Singapore SMEs in strategic industries. As a value creating investor, EDBI assists companies achieve their ambitious goals by leveraging its broad network, resources, and expertise. With its growth capital, EDBI supports companies seeking to expand in Asia and globally through Singapore. For more information, visit https://www.edbi.com/

Excelpoint Technology Ltd.

Excelpoint Technology Ltd. and its subsidiaries are a leading regional business-to-business platform providing quality electronic components, engineering design services, and supply chain management to original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”), original design manufacturers (“ODMs”), and electronics manufacturing services (“EMS”) in the Asia Pacific region. EBN, a premier online community for global supply chain professionals, recognized Excelpoint Technology Ltd. as one of its Top 25 Global Electronics Distributors in 2017.

Excelpoint works closely with its principals to create innovative solutions to complement its customers’ products and solutions. Aimed at improving its customers’ operational efficiency and cost competitiveness, the Group has set up research and development centers in Singapore and China that are helmed by its dedicated team of professional engineers.

Established in 1987 and headquartered in Singapore, Excelpoint’s business presence spans more than 10 countries across Asia Pacific with a workforce of more than 650 people from different nationalities and cultural backgrounds. For more information about Excelpoint, please visit www.excelpoint.com

iWOW Technology Pte Ltd

iWOW Technology Pte Ltd is a leading wireless technologies product developer and end-to-end IoT systems provider offering innovative solutions to its customers since 1999. Conversant is a broad spectrum of wireless technologies (Cellular WAN, LPWAN, BT, NFC etc), iWOW’s solutions are offered as-a-service with focus in the areas of smart city, public health, aging society, and sustainability.

Ambiq

Ambiq was founded in 2010 with the mission to put intelligence everywhere by creating the most energy-efficient technology platforms and solutions for battery-powered IoT endpoint devices. Ambiq’s patented Subthreshold Power Optimized Technology (SPOT™) platform is proven to significantly reduce devices’ overall power consumption without compromising their battery life or performance. As a result, the company has helped many leading global manufacturers develop products that can operate for days – sometimes years – either by battery or energy harvest.

Enabling intelligence on mobile and portable devices would be almost impossible without Ambiq’s advanced ultra-low-power microcontroller (MCU) and System-on-Chip (SoC) solutions. With over 100 million units shipped in 2020, Ambiq is poised to unleash intelligence on more than 100 billion IoT endpoint devices in the very near future. For more information, visit www.ambiq.com.

Contacts

Ambiq
Charlene Wan
VP of Marketing Communications & Branding
cwan@ambiq.com
+1 512 879 2850

EDBI
Clarissa Chiang
Manager, Value Creation & Communications
clarissa_chiang@edbi.com
+65 6972 0255

Excelpoint Technology Ltd.
Phuay Li Ying
Head of Corporate Development
phuay.li.ying@excelpoint.com.sg
+65 6210 6649 (ext 649)

iWOW Technology Pte Ltd
Jer Yaw Chen
Senior VP, Internet of Things
jy_chen@iwow.com.sg
+65 6748 8123

[1]PlanetSpark Pte Ltd (“PlanetSpark”) is the entrepreneurial and investment arm of Excelpoint Technology Ltd. (“Excelpoint”). On 12 Jan 2021, PlanetSpark launched the PlanetSpark Innovation Centre, the first hardware-targeted accelerator for Artificial Intelligence of Things (“AIoT”) innovations, dedicated to supporting Singapore tech startups speed up market deployment.

WT Microelectronics Announces Acquisition of Excelpoint Technology to enhance product offerings and market expansion

13 Apr 2022 (Wed)

WT Microelectronics Co., Ltd. (TWSE: 3036) (“WT”) and Excelpoint Technology Ltd. (SGX: BDF) (“Excelpoint”) today announced that WT, through its wholly owned subsidiary WT Semiconductor Pte. Ltd.(“Acquiring Entity”), and Excelpoint have entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which WT, through the Acquiring Entity, will acquire 100% equity in Excelpoint by way of a scheme of arrangement (“Scheme”) at a cash consideration of S$1.93 per Excelpoint share.
The transaction, which values 100% equity of Excelpoint at over S$232.2 million, is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022,
subject to, among others, the approvals of Excelpoint shareholders and relevant regulatory authorities as well as the sanction of the Scheme by the Singapore High Court. The founder and CEO of Excelpoint, Mr. Albert Phuay, will reinvest part of the cash consideration due to him under the Scheme in 20% equity of the Acquiring Entity, with the balance 80% stake owned by WT. Mr. Albert Phuay will continue to bethe CEO of Excelpoint.

In 2021, amidst continued Covid-19 pandemic and uncertain macroeconomic environment, Excelpoint achieved strong growth in
revenue and operating profitability. Excelpoint’s consolidated revenue,operating income and net income amounted to US$1,598.5m, US$30.5m and US$24.5m in FY2021, representing year-on-year growth of 44.2%, 148.3% and 137.2% respectively compared with FY2020. Excelpoint’s emphasis on strengthening its engineering expertise and capabilities to develop more technology solutions alongside its partners adds value to the company’s business, ensuring its sustainability and relevance to market needs. This strategy has given Excelpoint a competitive edge and its strong positioning in today’s market.

Excelpoint was listed in the Singapore stock exchange in 2004.
Through the years, the company has built and grew its businesses based on its strong fundamentals, including the long-term trusted relationships with Excelpoint’s suppliers, such as Analog Device (ADI), Microchip, Qorvo, Qualcomm, and Samsung, among others. The company continues to expand its customer base and now works closely with over 4,000 customers.

WT, founded in 1993, is one of the global leading distributors of semiconductor components. WT has focused on high quality and value-driven businesses to pursue profitable growth and drive competitive advantages. After years of higher-than-industry growth, it achieved a revenue of close to US$16 billion in 2021. WT currently partners with over 80 suppliers across every major technology segment to serve over 8,000 customers worldwide.

There are strong synergies between both companies, who are believers of value-adding to partners. The enhanced complementary product line offerings will allow for business expansion. Most importantly, with the experienced teams and footprints from both companies, customers will benefit from the extensive product solutions and technical support provided by the WT group, allowing them earlier access to the market.

In addition, the established customer bases combined would significantly improve the distribution capabilities and customer portfolios of WT in the Asia Pacific region. Cross selling of various products to the customers of Excelpoint and WT would not only realise potential synergies for the enlarged WT group, but also bring more demand creation opportunities for the supplier

RESPONSIBILITY STATEMENTS

Excelpoint. The directors of the Excelpoint (including any who may have delegated detailed supervision of the preparation of this press release) have taken all reasonable care to ensure that the facts stated and all opinions expressed in this press release (excluding information relating to Mr. Albert Phuay (in respect of arrangements other than in his capacity as director of Excelpoint, the Acquiring Entity and/or WT or any opinion expressed by the Acquiring Entity and/or WT) are fair and accurate and that there are no other material facts not contained in this press release, the omission of which would make any statement in this press release misleading. The directors of Excelpoint jointly and severally accept responsibility accordingly.

Where any information has been extracted or reproduced from published or otherwise publicly available sources or obtained from the Acquiring Entity and/or WT, the sole responsibility of the directors of Excelpoint has been to ensure that, through reasonable enquiries, such information is accurately extracted from such sources or, as the case may be, reflected or reproduced in this press release. The directors of Excelpoint do not accept any responsibility for any information relating to the Acquiring Entity and/or WT or any opinion expressed  by the Acquiring Entity and/or WT.

Acquiring Entity. The directors of the Acquiring Entity (including any who may have delegated detailed supervision of the preparation of this press release) have taken all reasonable care to ensure that the facts stated and all opinions expressed in this press release (excluding information relating to Excelpoint or any opinion expressed by Excelpoint) are fair and accurate and that there are no other material facts not contained in this press release, the omission of which would make any statement in this press release misleading. The directors of the Acquiring Entity jointly and severally accept responsibility accordingly.

Where any information has been extracted or reproduced from published or otherwise publicly available sources or obtained from Excelpoint, the sole responsibility of the directors of the Acquiring Entity has been to ensure that, through reasonable enquiries, such information is accurately extracted from such sources or, as the case may be, reflected or reproduced in this press release. The directors of the Acquiring Entity do not accept any responsibility for any information relating to Excelpoint or any opinion expressed by Excelpoint.