MEDIA CONTACT: Megan Fellman at 847-491-3115 or fellman@northwestern.edu

September 14, 2004

ITEC Pre-Seed Fund Makes Award to Binachip

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Binachip, Inc., a Glenview-based electronic design automation technology company, has received a $25,000 investment from the Illinois Technology Enterprise Center (ITEC)–Evanston.

Binachip is the second company spun out of Northwestern University by Prith Banerjee, former chairman of the department of electrical and computer engineering in Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, new dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and founder of Accelchip.

Increasing demands for cell phones, PDAs and network devices have provided opportunities for the growth of embedded software, operating systems and development tools. Binachip will develop and market software products that will assist embedded systems developers in the task of seamless migration of software binary codes from older general purpose embedded processors onto hardware and mixed hardware/software platforms. Electronic design automation tools are used by more than 300,000 embedded software and hardware developers around the world in companies such as Intel, Qualcomm and Motorola.

“We are thrilled to be the first outside investor in Binachip,” said Bret Johnson, assistant director of ITEC–Evanston. “We have great confidence in the vision of Prith Banerjee, the company’s value proposition and the market opportunity.” The ITEC funding will be used to develop a working commercial version of the company’s first software prototype.

Binachip’s core technology is based on the Freedom Compiler developed at and funded by Northwestern University under the leadership of Banerjee. The company has formed a strategic partnership with Lisle Technology Partners. Under the terms of that agreement, Adarsh Arora has assumed the position as Binachip’s CEO.

The ITEC program was established by the State of Illinois in 2000 to provide services relevant to the formation, growth and retention of early-stage technology companies in Illinois. Initial funding for ITEC–Evanston was based on a $500,000 grant from the state, $150,000 and office space from Northwestern University and $50,000 from the Northwestern University/Evanston Research Park.

Since 2002, Northwestern University has been awarded subsequent grants totaling $1.2 million by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) to support continuation of the center and to establish a pre-seed fund for technology startups. ITEC–Evanston is actively seeking new applicants to its Pre-Seed Fund. Managed by the University, the center has served more than 200 entrepreneurs and early-stage companies since its inception.