What Nanopower Semiconductor does

Nanopower Semiconductor AS is a fabless Norwegian semiconductor company founded in 2017 and headquartered in Kristiansand, with engineering operations in Porto, Portugal and a recently opened Asia Pacific sales office in Hong Kong. The company designs and sells the nPZero Power-Saving IC (PSIC), a subthreshold companion chip that operates in the nanoampere range (idle current as low as 100 nA, approximately 1 µA during polling) to autonomously monitor up to four sensors, manage wake-up events, and control power domains, allowing the host MCU to remain fully powered down. The technology targets battery-powered and energy-harvesting IoT devices across industrial monitoring, smart buildings, smart agriculture, logistics, medical/wearable, and consumer electronics verticals, with claimed energy reductions of up to 90% versus conventional architectures.

The nPZero IC is supported by the nPZero Configurator (a graphical GUI tool with automatic API code generation) and an nPZero DevKit (NPDK-CK-G1SY) sold at $99 with $20 flat-rate worldwide shipping. Volume IC pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed, with typical multi-year volume contracts. The product entered volume production in March 2026, having transitioned from first samples in 2025; first tape-out occurred in 2020 and system demonstration in 2021. The company has been validated by industry recognition including the 2025 Elektra Award for Consumer Semiconductor Energy Efficiency, EPDT 2025 Product of the Year, EE Times Silicon 100 (two consecutive years), and selection into the Amazon Devices Climate Tech Accelerator. The company holds ISO 9001 certification as of March 2026.

Nanopower runs a hybrid go-to-market combining direct enterprise sales with regional distribution partnerships (Anglia Components for pan-Europe; JP Electronics in India; Demsay Elektronik in Turkey; AM.IT in Italy; Alphatech in Brazil) and direct online DevKit sales. Marketing is centered on trade shows (Electronica, Embedded World, MWC, GITEX, Hardware Pioneers), technical content (YouTube, DevPortal), and earned media in European electronics publications. Revenue model is hardware sales of ICs and development kits, with EIC Fund (EU), Big Sur Ventures, Skagerak Capital, Blystad Group, and Borgen as equity backers following a EUR 9.4 million round in September 2025.

Name

Nanopower Semiconductor

Legal name

Nanopower Semiconductor AS

Website

https://nanopowersemi.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Fabless Norwegian semiconductor company designing the nPZero Power-Saving IC, a subthreshold companion chip that autonomously manages sensors for battery-powered and energy-harvesting IoT devices across industrial, medical, agricultural, smart building, and consumer electronics OEMs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Ultra-Low-Power Power Management Semiconductors

akta.pro primary industry

Power Management ICs (PMICs) (HDAHAIAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Power Management & Power Conversion ICs (PMIC/DC‑DC/AC‑DC/Gate Drivers) (HDAHABAE)

Keywords

• Ultra-low-power semiconductors
• Power management ICs
• Battery-powered IoT chips
• Energy harvesting ICs
• Subthreshold IC design

Headquarters

HQ city

Kristiansand

HQ country

Norway

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Semiconductor IC Sales: Fabless semiconductor company selling power-saving ICs (nPZero) to IoT device manufacturers. Revenue generated from chip sales with typical semiconductor product lifecycle and volume-based economics.
2. Development Tools and Kits: Sale of nPZero DevKit at $99 USD with $20 worldwide shipping. Evaluation boards and development tools support customer design-in while generating revenue.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Nanopower Semiconductor designs, develops, and sells the nPZero Power-Saving IC (PSIC), a fabless ultra-low-power companion chip that uses proprietary subthreshold technology to autonomously monitor up to four sensors and wake the host MCU only when needed. The company also sells the nPZero DevKit evaluation platform ($99 USD) and the nPZero Stamp module, targeting battery-powered and energy-harvesting IoT device manufacturers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• nPZero: Ultra-low-power power-saving IC platform that reduces energy consumption in battery-powered and energy-harvesting IoT devices by up to 90%.
• nPZero Gen1

Products and services

• nPZero Power-Saving IC (PSIC) Ultra-low-power subthreshold power-saving IC that autonomously monitors up to four sensors, manages wake-up events, and controls power domains, allowing the host MCU to remain fully powered down. Consumes ~100 nA idle and ~1 µA during polling, supports I²C and SPI interfaces, and reduces system energy consumption by up to 90%. Targeted at IoT OEMs building battery-powered or energy-harvesting devices.
• nPZero DevKit (NPDK-CK-G1SY) Evaluation and development platform for the nPZero PSIC. Sold direct via the Nanopower website at $99 USD per unit with $20 USD flat-rate worldwide shipping to allow engineers and IoT OEMs to prototype and validate designs before committing to volume IC orders.
• nPZero Stamp Compact module form factor based on the nPZero PSIC for integration into customer hardware designs, enabling faster prototyping and easier embedding into IoT products.
• nPZero + TDK CeraCharge Demonstrator Reference design demonstrating nPZero combined with TDK CeraCharge solid-state batteries for energy-harvesting IoT applications, showcased as a proof-of-concept to customers.
• nPZero + Maxell and Epishine Demonstrator Reference design combining nPZero with Maxell thin-film batteries and Epishine indoor light energy-harvesting cells to demonstrate maintenance-free, energy-harvested IoT sensor operation.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduces system energy consumption by up to 90% in certain applications
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Broad incumbents

• Texas Instruments: Global analog and embedded semiconductor leader with a broad portfolio of PMICs, ultra-low-power MCUs (MSP430), and battery management ICs. Serves the same IoT OEM customers as Nanopower but at vastly greater scale, and could integrate PSIC-equivalent functionality into its MCU offerings.
• STMicroelectronics: European semiconductor incumbent with strong STM32 MCU franchise and broad PMIC portfolio. Targets the same industrial IoT, smart building, and consumer wearable OEMs as Nanopower and has the R&D scale to integrate ultra-low-power wake-on-sensor features into its MCU roadmap.
• Analog Devices (Maxim Integrated): Global analog leader offering a broad PMIC and power management portfolio, including products for ultra-low-power IoT applications. Serves similar industrial and medical IoT OEMs with more extensive product lines but lacks a comparable subthreshold design focus.
• Microchip Technology: Major US semiconductor company offering PIC and AVR MCUs alongside a broad analog and power management portfolio for IoT applications. Targets the same battery-powered IoT OEM customer base as Nanopower and could leverage its MCU franchise to bundle integrated low-power features.
• ON Semiconductor (onsemi): Global semiconductor supplier with a strong PMIC portfolio and growing ultra-low-power product offerings for IoT and industrial applications. Competes in the broader PMIC market that nPZero addresses and serves similar industrial and consumer IoT customers.
• Renesas Electronics: Japanese semiconductor company with a leading MCU franchise (RA, RX, RL78) and growing ultra-low-power portfolio for IoT and battery-powered applications. Competes for the same IoT OEM socket and offers integrated low-power solutions that could substitute for a standalone PSIC.

Direct peers

• Nordic Semiconductor: Norwegian fabless semiconductor company specializing in ultra-low-power wireless MCUs for IoT. Most directly comparable to Nanopower given shared Norwegian origin, fabless model, and ultra-low-power IoT focus; Nordic's CEO-level leadership (Nielsen) came from here. Overlaps in target customer base (battery-powered IoT OEMs) and serves as both a peer and a potential integrated competitor.
• e-peas: Belgian fabless semiconductor company designing power management ICs and energy-harvesting PMICs for IoT devices. Closest direct competitor to nPZero, targeting the same battery-free and energy-harvesting IoT segments with comparable ultra-low-power companion ICs and PMICs.
• Ambiq Micro: US-based fabless semiconductor company designing ultra-low-power MCUs and SoCs using subthreshold technology for battery-powered IoT, wearables, and edge AI applications. Most direct technical competitor with overlapping subthreshold design philosophy and IoT customer base; Ambiq's Apollo MCUs target similar always-on sensor use cases.

Emerging players

• Atmosic Technologies: US-based fabless semiconductor company designing ultra-low-power wireless SoCs with energy harvesting for IoT, beacons, and wearables. Competes in the same battery-free IoT segment as Nanopower with an integrated SoC approach, contrasting with Nanopower's companion-IC positioning.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@nanopowersemiconductor
• Facebookfacebook.com/nanopowersemiconductor
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nanopower-semiconductor

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors5 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Nanopower Semiconductor