Recession Wipes Out Hardware Upstarts

How long does it take for a global recession to crush a hardware start-up? Oh, about nine months.

Game Developer

Staff

June 01, 2009

How long does it take for a global recession to crush a hardware start-up? Oh, about nine months. In the last couple of weeks, a host of promising hardware companies ceased operations. Most of them are struggling to find more money or a buyer. The casualties include MetaRam, SiCortex, Woven Systems and Quadrics. MetaRam created technology that let server makers pack more memory in their systems. The company was started by former Advanced Micro Devices executive Fred Weber, who led much of the design work around the Opteron chip that revitalized A.M.D.’s business a few years back. Big name venture capitalists including Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, Khosla Ventures, Storm Ventures, and Intel Capital put money into MetaRam.