Axign Completes Investment Round to Enter Production and Boost Audio Amplifier Technology

Semiconductor company Axign B.V., from The Netherlands, announced that it has received an equity investment from KBC Focus Fund as the lead investor, together with Innovation Industries and Oost NL. This investment round enables Axign to mass produce and launch the company’s unique range of audio devices worldwide. Additionally, the new funding will support the development and introduction of next-generation devices for cost-sensitive applications, such as active speakers and streaming audio systems.
Axign, which was the focus for a dedicated article on audioXpress, was founded in 2014 by former Philips and NXP employees who worked on the pioneering Class-D efforts. Their efforts have resulted in the development of the AX5689, a Class-D audio amplifier controller chip in a QFN package. The solution uses a digital control loop with feedback behind the output filter, across the loudspeaker terminals. It requires a digital input signal and suppresses all artifacts with a fifth-order digital feedback loop. 

This digital feedback audio chip provides dramatically improved audio quality. The Axign device, is now fully qualified and ramping into mass production. According to Jeroen Langevoort, Axign CTO and founder, “The AX5689 enables audio system designers to more easily implement high sound quality in traditional high-end systems, and now enables superior audio quality in mid-range and lower-end systems, soundbars, connected streaming and smart speakers, as well as multi-channel AV receivers and TVs. All are product targets for the AX5689.”

Following multiple presentations of the technology at trade-shows around the world, including the 2019 Audio Engineering Society convention in NY, and CES 2020, the company confirmed that it will bring its audio controller chip into platform developments of world-renowned audio consumer brands and expects several of these brands to announce production programs later this year.

 

Rudi Severijns, investment director at KBC Focus Fund, explains, “Axign’s technology brings the best audio experience to consumers in the mainstream and high-performance audio segment, but also allows brands to optimize overall system costs. We are excited to support the Axign team to market and sell the AX5689 flagship solution.”

According to Hans van Leeuwen, Axign CEO, “The feedback we have received from highly knowledgeable customer engineering and management sources is fantastic. The device is configurable and is perfect to use in a company-wide audio solution platform. It is available now in volume shipments.”
www.axign.nl