Austin, Texas ― Nanochip Inc., a start-up company developing a MEMS storage product somewhat similar to IBM Corp.'s Millipede research effort, said last week it will use $20 million secured in second-round funding to implement its technology in a marketable product. Founded in 1996 by inventor Tom Rust, the Fremont, Calif., company is developing a form of microelectro-mechanical-systems storage device that it says could compete with both NAND-based flash cards and the 1-inch hard-disk drives used in Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod MP3 player. Gordon Knight, chief executive officer of the 10-person startup, said the funding will allow Nanochip to develop the controller and drive electronics needed to make the underlying technology functional. The goal is to develop "chips" with multigigabytes of density, Knight said, adding that the company's approach will deliver densities two orders of magnitude higher than semiconductor memories.
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