About Keyssa
Keyssa reinvented the connector. We made it simple and secure to reliably transfer huge amounts of data and video between devices with unprecedented speed.
Our Beginnings
In 2009, Waveconnex was founded to fundamentally change the way data is transferred and directly tackle the challenges of speed and cost. Dr. Frank Chang’s foundational research at UCLA was combined with an understanding of the liabilities of traditional mechanical connectors to create a revolutionary and cost-effective method for electronics to connect.
Since then, Keyssa has hired Eric Almgren as CEO, changed the company name to Keyssa, raised additional capital, and deployed Kiss Connectivity to key partners across multiple industries. The company has made over 250 patent filings.
Our Team
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John LeMoncheck
Chairman and CEO
John LeMoncheck
Chairman and CEO
John has been a leader of companies and business units across a wide variety of industries including wireless and wired communications, consumer electronics, semiconductors, nanomaterials, smart toys and human interface devices. John currently serves on the board of directors of Userful Corporation. Prior to Keyssa, John was president and CEO of Cambrios Advanced Materials, president and CEO of SiBEAM, and VP/GM of Silicon Image’s CE and PC/Display Products. He holds a BSEE from UC San Diego and studied computation and neural systems at Caltech under Carver Mead.
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Roger Isaac
Chief Technology Officer
Roger Isaac
Chief Technology Officer
Roger has served as the chairman of the low-power memory committee at JEDEC, and has led a number of technical task groups including LPDDR2, LPDDR4, and UFS. He also served on the organization’s Board of Directors. Roger has led architecture, design, marketing, and intellectual property teams at AMD, Spansion, and Silicon Image.
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Allen Lee
VP, Operations
Allen Lee
VP, Operations
Allen has over 20 years of experience in product management from initial development through end of life. Prior to joining Keyssa, Allen served as the Senior Director of manufacturing and product engineering at VIA Telecom. After VIA Telecom was acquired by Intel, he managed testing houses for New Product Introductions as well as managing product sustainability. Allen earned his MS in Electrical Engineering from National Taiwan University.
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Paz Necas
VP, Finance
Paz Necas
VP, Finance
Paz’ finance career spans multiple semiconductor companies in multiple markets. Most recently, Paz was the AVP Finance at Quantenna Communications, Inc. which went IPO in October of 2016. Prior to Quantenna, Paz held senior positions in finance at Virident Systems, Inc. (acquired by HGST (WD) in 2013); Sibeam, Inc. (acquired by Silicon Image in 2011); Intersil, Corp. (a public company until acquired by Renesas in 2016; and Centillium Communications, Inc. (IPO in May 2000). Paz overseas all aspects of Keyssa’s finance department.
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Narasimha Nookala
VP, Engineering
Narasimha Nookala
VP, Engineering
Narasimha “Nook” Nookala has over 25 years of experience in designing and managing IC development for the mobile and consumer electronics markets. Recently, he was SVP of Engineering at Redpine Signals. Previous to Redpine, he held senior engineering positions at Intel, Becton Dickinson, Silicon Image and MediaQ. Nook received his BTech in Electrical Engineering from Osmania University, Hyderabad, India, his MS EE from the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, and his MS in Computer Science from Wayne State University.
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Patrick Reutens
Chief Administrative & Legal Officer, VP Corporate Development
Patrick Reutens
Chief Administrative & Legal Officer, VP Corporate Development
Patrick has extensive senior-level experience in the technology sector and held executive positions at Atmel, Silicon Image, Immersion, Preview Systems and MIPS Technologies. Patrick started counseling high-growth technology companies as an attorney at Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati, and at the Venture Law Group.
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Steve Venuti
VP Marketing
Steve Venuti
VP Marketing
Steve spent 12 years at HDMI Licensing where he served as President, overseeing the initial release of the HDMI specification and growing it to today’s ubiquitous worldwide connectivity standard in over 7 billion products worldwide. In 2014, HDMI Licensing received an EMMY for Technical Excellence from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Prior to HDMI, Steve worked with leading companies such as Acer, Palm, Disney, and Philips to launch their consumer technology products.
Our Board
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John LeMoncheck
Chairman and CEO
John LeMoncheck
Chairman and CEO
John has been a leader of companies and business units across a wide variety of industries including wireless and wired communications, consumer electronics, semiconductors, nanomaterials, smart toys and human interface devices. John currently serves on the board of directors of Userful Corporation. Prior to Keyssa, John was president and CEO of Cambrios Advanced Materials, president and CEO of SiBEAM, and VP/GM of Silicon Image’s CE and PC/Display Products. He holds a BSEE from UC San Diego and studied computation and neural systems at Caltech under Carver Mead.
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Shankar Chandran
Senior VP, Managing Director and Head of Samsung Catalyst Fund
Shankar Chandran
Senior VP, Managing Director and Head of Samsung Catalyst Fund
Shankar is Senior VP, Managing Director and Head of Samsung Catalyst Fund. Prior to Samsung, Shankar was a partner at Panorama Capital and JP Morgan Partners. He has held various engineering, business development and management roles at Applied Materials, Inc., and has been granted eight patents as the primary inventor. Shankar holds an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, an M.S. in Materials Science from Arizona State University, and a Bachelor’s in metallurgical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), India.
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Don McKinney
Investor
Don McKinney
Investor
Don is a private technology investor focused on IT-Services, Internet, networking, software and related software-enabled services. He was the founder of International Network Services and served as its Chairman until its sale to Lucent Technologies. Prior to INS, Don was Vice President of Sales and Marketing of Electronics for Imaging, Inc. and worked at Sequoia Capital. Don previously served on the following boards: the Advisory Board for Broadview Capital Partners, C-Cube Microsystems, Context Integration, Mixman Technologies, Tipping Point and Unbound Technologies.
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Patrick Soon-Shiong
CEO, Nantworks
Patrick Soon-Shiong
CEO, Nantworks
Patrick serves as Chairman of the Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation; Chairman and CEO of the Chan Soon-Shiong Institute for Advanced Health; the Healthcare Transformation Institute; and NantWorks, LLC – a company whose mission is to converge semiconductor technology, supercomputing, advanced networks, and proven innovation to revolutionize how we work, live and play. Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong has lent vision, voice, and action to the power of convergence – applying the limitless potential of collaborative science and technology to benefit an individual’s health.
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Jim Whims
Partner, Alsop Louie Partners
Jim Whims
Partner, Alsop Louie Partners
Jim has a long track record of tech success. He was recognized as Marketing Executive of the Year in 1996 by Adweek/Brandweek for his work launching Playstation at Sony Computer Entertainment. Prior to Alsop Louie Partners, Jim was a Partner at Techfund Capital, where he invested 3DFX and Portal Player. He also co-founded Worlds of Wonder and worked at Software Toolworks.
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Ker Zhang
Entrepreneur in Residence, Kleiner Perkins
Ker Zhang
Entrepreneur in Residence, Kleiner Perkins
Ker brings more than 25 years of experience in deep-tech as an entrepreneur, executive, board member, and investor. He is currently an Entrepreneur in Residence at Kleiner Perkins. Before that, he was a vice president/GM at Intel, and founder/CEO of VIA Telecom (which was sold to Intel) as well as 3 other start-ups. Ker holds a Ph.D. in EE from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and is an expert on communication and semiconductors.
Our Advisors
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Ajay Bhatt
I/O Architect
Ajay Bhatt
I/O Architect
Ajay Bhatt is a former Intel Fellow and recognized technologist and thought leader in platform and silicon level architectures. In his 35 years in the computer hardware industry, Ajay has co-invented and spearheaded a number of notable technologies including; USB, Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP), PCI Express, Thunderbolt as well as the USB Type-C connector. Ajay has secured over 132 U.S. and international patents and has been honored for his technical contributions, including receiving the Light of India Award in 2012, The Asian Award in 2013, and the EU Inventor Award in 2013.
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Rubén Caballero
Former VP Engineering, Apple Inc.
Rubén Caballero
Former VP Engineering, Apple Inc.
Rubén served as VP engineering at Apple for 14 years and was one of the founding leaders of the iPhone hardware team and later expanded his role to include iPad, Apple Watch, Macintosh and all other hardware products. Rubén founded, scaled and oversaw a world-class wireless design and technology team of over 1,000 engineers in 26 countries for all of Apples’ products and ecosystems. Rubén holds a BSEE from the École Polytechnique de Montréal; MSEE from New Mexico State University, and Honorary Doctorate from the University of Montréal.
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Dr. Frank Chang
National Chiao Tung University
Dr. Frank Chang
National Chiao Tung University
Dr. Chang, a Founder of Keyssa, is currently the President of National Chiao Tung University (NCTU), Hsinchu, Taiwan. Previously, he was the Chairman and Wintek Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering at UCLA. Frank’s research has primarily focused on the development of high-speed semiconductor devices and high-frequency integrated circuits for radio, radar and imaging systems. He is a member of the US National Academy of Engineering, an Academician of Taiwan’s Academia Sinica, and a Fellow of IEEE. He received the IEEE David Sarnoff Award in 2006 for developing and commercializing HBT power amplifiers for mobile phones.
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Tony Fadell
Co-founder/CEO, Nest
Tony Fadell
Co-founder/CEO, Nest
Tony is an active investor and entrepreneur with a 25-year history of founding companies and designing products that profoundly improve people’s lives. He is the founder and former CEO of Nest, the company that pioneered the “Internet of things”. Previously, Tony was the SVP of Apple’s iPod Division and led the team that created the first 18 generations of the iPod and the first three generations of the iPhone. Tony has authored more than 300 patents. In May 2016, TIME named Nest Thermostat, the iPod and iPhone as three of the “50 Most Influential Gadgets of All Time.”
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Christian Olgaard
Co-founder/CTO LitePoint
Christian Olgaard
Co-founder/CTO LitePoint
Christian has been working in consumer electronics from chip design through designing and manufacturing of final products. As co-founder of LitePoint, he grew the company to be a premier provider of high-end test equipment for manufacturing. LitePoint was acquired by Teradyne Inc. in 2011. Christian continues to serve as CTO. Prior to founding LitePoint, Christian worked at National Semiconductor designing wireless communication system ICs. Christian has close to 100 issued patents and many more in process.
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Scott Summit
Industrial Designer
Scott Summit
Industrial Designer
Summit founded Bespoke Innovations, which pushed the boundaries for body-based 3D printing and human need. Acquired by 3D Systems, he served as Design Director for three years, creating many groundbreaking consumer and professional products. As a designer, Summit has created innovative, award-winning mobile and desktop devices for Apple, Sun, Nike, Samsung, Silicon Graphics, and Think Outside among others.
Investors
Our Offices
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Headquarters
655 Campbell Technology Parkway, Suite 125
info@keyssa.com
Campbell, CA 95008
Main (408) 637-2300 -
Portland Office
7320 Hunziker Road, Suite 202
Tigard, OR 97223
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China Office
Unit 1002, Building 7 IBase,
Vision Software Park,
Rd 11st Gaoxin South,
Nanshan District,
Shenzhen City, China -
Korea Office
Gangnam Building 16/F., Seocho-daero 396,
Seocho-gu, Seoul 06619, Korea
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Taiwan Office
4F., No.58, Zhouzi St., Neihu Dist.,
Taipei City, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
Let’s Connect
If you’d like to find out more about Keyssa, please fill out this form and we’ll get in touch.