VirtualLogix: Virtualization for Smart Devices

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Company: VirtualLogix

Location: Sunnyvale, CA

Founded: 2002 (formerly named Jaluna)

Product or Service: VirtualLogix VLX is a virtualization suite that allows multiple operating systems and their application software stacks to operate on the same hardware. The company is targeting an array of devices with its technology, including telecom and datacom infrastructure equipment, multimedia devices, and mobile handsets.

Earlier this year, Texas Instruments started shipping VLX for Digital Multimedia with its DaVinci digital video development platform. VLX allows customers to run TI’s DSP/BIOS kernel and Linux simultaneously on a single DSP. Alcatel is using VLX to virtualize its soft-switches; and Grundig’s new Linux-based mobile handset, the U900, integrates VLX as a key part of its single-chip design.

Funding: Raised $12 million in a Series A funding round in 2004. Atlas Venture and Index Ventures co-led the round, with Cisco participating.

Competitive Landscape: Virtualization is getting dangerously close to being over-hyped. In the open-source world, Xen is practically synonymous with virtualization. Other open-source players, such as rPath, have spun virtualization differently. rPath, for instance, uses it for quickly deployed “software appliances.”

Stealth-mode startup Qumranet is generating plenty of buzz despite the fact that it has yet to even reveal what the company is all about, let alone launch any sort of product or service on the market. This is due to having its KVM technology accepted into Linux kernel version 2.6.20.

The above instances are all focused on IT infrastructure and the desktop, which is where they have the most applicability, of course. VirtualLogix has an infrastructure offering too, but what is more interesting is that it sees an opportunity to push virtualization beyond the traditional enterprise network to a range of smart devices, everything from set-top boxes to smart phones to point-of-sale terminals.

While the serious virtualization action will be focused on the server and the desktop sectors in the short run, there is certainly broader opportunity that is largely being ignored. The Diffusion Group predicts that by 2010 the mobile Linux handset market share will grow to 26.6 percent, and virtualization could be the key to application portability and broader Linux acceptance. At the same time, the telecom/datacom infrastructure market is huge, and the connected device space will continue to grow.

VirtualLogix is uniquely positioned – for now.

Management Team: Peter Richards, CEO, was formerly VP of worldwide field operations for CoWare, an ESL EDA tools provider. Before that, he held senior executive positions with WindRiver Systems and Tandem Computers; Michel Gien, EVP of corporate strategy, was formerly GM and CTO of Chorus Systems, which was acquired by Sun, where Gien then became a distinguished engineer; Christian Jacquemot, CTO, was formerly a chief architect at Chorus Systems; Bruno Bauvin, CFO, previously was a senior-level manager at Quallaby and CFO at Apogee Group; Mark Milligan, VP of marketing, previously served as VP of marketing for CoWare; Mark Creamer, VP of sales and field operations, most recently served as VP of sales for CoWare; Manuel Montalban, VP of strategic business development, was previously COO at Atempo; Gregory Mardinian, VP of engineering, formerly served as director of software engineering for Ingenico; Annie Remille, VP of professional services, previously led engineering teams in charge of the development of ChorusOS products at Sun.