Lion Semiconductor

Lion Semiconductor operated as a fabless semiconductor company specializing in the development of power and battery management integrated circuits (ICs). The company was established in 2012 by Wonyoung Kim, Hanh-Phuc Le, and John Crossley, tracing its origins to their Ph.D. research at Harvard and UC Berkeley. Wonyoung Kim, who served as CEO, earned his bachelor's degree from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) before pursuing his master's and doctorate at Harvard University. The founding team's academic work on integrated voltage regulators and related projects formed the technological bedrock of the company.

The core of Lion Semiconductor's business was its proprietary switched-capacitor power IC technology. This technology was developed to deliver high efficiency, aiming for levels above 98%, which enabled faster battery charging while minimizing heat dissipation in electronic devices. Its product line included charger ICs and DC-to-DC converters that were integrated into a significant number of consumer electronics. The primary market consisted of major mobile device manufacturers, with the company's ICs being used in numerous flagship and mid-tier smartphones for both wired and wireless charging applications. By August 2020, Lion Semiconductor had shipped over 50 million of its switched-capacitor power ICs. The business model was based on designing and selling these specialized ICs to clients in the smartphone and laptop sectors.

A major milestone in the company's history was its acquisition by Cirrus Logic in July 2021 for $335 million in cash. This acquisition was a strategic move for Cirrus Logic to expand its mixed-signal business and gain Lion's intellectual property in fast-charging technology. Prior to the acquisition, Lion Semiconductor had successfully raised $33 million in funding over seven rounds from investors including Walden International, Celesta Capital, and the National Science Foundation. The transaction was expected to contribute approximately $60 million in revenue to Cirrus Logic by the end of the 2022 fiscal year. Lion had operations in San Francisco and Seoul, South Korea.

Keywords: switched-capacitor power ICs, power management ICs, fast charging technology, battery management ICs, DC-DC converters, mobile device charging, wireless charging solutions, power efficiency semiconductors, high-efficiency power ICs, fabless semiconductor, Cirrus Logic acquisition, Wonyoung Kim, Hanh-Phuc Le, John Crossley, smartphone power management, laptop charging ICs, consumer electronics components, power semiconductor, integrated circuits for mobile, battery charging efficiency, reduced heat dissipation ICs, mixed-signal power solutions, proprietary power architecture