KPMG Law advises Silexica

KPMG Law advises Silexica on US flip and Series A financing round

KPMG Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH (KPMG Law) advised Cologne-based startup Silexica on its expansion into the US and the subsequent Series A financing round. The company was able to raise a total of USD 8 million from several investors, which will be used for further technological development and international growth.

Silexica GmbH was founded in 2014 as a spin-off of RWTH Aachen University and has grown rapidly since then. The company specializes in the production of tools with which software for multicore processors can be programmed more efficiently (multicore software design automation). After a seed financing round with Seed Fonds Aachen and DSA Invest, the venture arm of tech company DSA, went
the next step to the USA. To facilitate the participation of U.S. investors, Silexica, advised by KPMG Law, initially conducted a U.S. flip in which the shareholders merged Silexica GmbH into the newly formed Silexica, Inc. brought in.

In the following Series A financing round, Silexica received fresh investments from Merus Capital, Paua Ventures as well as from the previous investors Seed Fonds Aachen and DSA Invest. Merus Capital, a leading Silicon Valley venture fund, prevailed among the numerous interested parties. As part of this financing round, the company also previously received financing from Silexica, Inc. assumed silent participations and loans were converted into equity.

Various structural, tax and legal issues had to be clarified throughout the transaction, which KPMG Law and KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft were able to advise on from a single source. The money raised will be used for technology development and international growth. In addition to the office in Cologne, Silexica has a branch office in Silicon Valley as well as in Yokohama, Japan. An office is to be opened in China in 2017.

Consultant Silexica

KPMG Law (Cologne): Dr. Philipp Wüllrich (Lead; Venture Capital/Corporate Law), Dr. Volker Balda (Frankfurt), Associate: Frederike Klein (M&A/Corporate Law)