Aspinity Expands Board of Directors with Appointment of Jonathan Ballon and Stephen DiFranco
PITTSBURGH—Aspinity, the developer of analog machine learning (analogML™) chips that enable near-zero-power always-on sensing for battery-powered devices, has added two high-profile members to the company’s board of directors: Jonathan Ballon, former vice president and general manager, Edge AI and IoT, Intel Corporation, and Stephen DiFranco, whose senior leadership positions in semiconductors span Broadcom, Cypress, and AMD.
“Following our fruitful Series A funding round in September 2020 with investors such as Amazon and Anzu Partners, engagement with major product manufacturers, and collaborations with influential industry partners such as Infineon Technologies and STMicroelectronics, we’ve laid the groundwork for the successful market introduction of our first chip,” said Tom Doyle, founder and CEO, Aspinity. “The addition of Glen Clark, Jonathan Ballon and Stephen DiFranco marks the next milestone in our company’s progression. We’re thrilled to have these three powerhouses join Aspinity’s internal and advisory teams.”
Aspinity’s two new board members are accomplished senior executives who cumulatively bring more than 50 years of semiconductor expertise to Aspinity. While at Intel Corporation, Jonathan Ballon steered a multibillion-dollar global product line and organization responsible for various AI/ML and edge computing segments, leading ecosystem and channel development for the group, and aggressively accelerating revenue growth by 14% year on year—which was double the market rate. He also pioneered the development of new AI/ML hardware and software tools and scaled operations in China, significantly expanding regional profitability.
Stephen DiFranco works with teams around the world to identify how the next generation of AI technologies will create a competitive advantage, impact outcomes, and streamline IoT services. His passion is how IoT and AI companies change offerings, implement go-to-market strategies, and create new customer opportunities. DiFranco is currently an executive partner with Gartner’s chief sales officer practice and has held executive in-residence (EIR) seats at Plug&Play, Silicon Catalyst, and the IoT Advisory Group. He is currently an advisor to three start-ups and a board member of a private company that automates medical endpoints. Previously, he held executive positions at Broadcom, HP, Lenovo, and AMD. At Broadcom, DiFranco first managed the IoT group in enabling clients to create some of the world’s first connected devices. He then led the sales of the Broadcom IoT Group to Cypress Semiconductor.
Together, Ballon and DiFranco’s extensive relationships in the complex IoT and edge computing ecosystem—as well as their expertise in shepherding semiconductor chips from R&D to multibillion-dollar product lines—will prove pivotal for Aspinity’s growth as the company introduces its products to market.
View the full press release published by Aspinity here.
ON Partners consultant Mike Lynch is proud to have partnered with Aspinity, Stephen DiFranco, and Jonathan Ballon on these successful board appointments View more board appointments from ON here.
About Aspinity
Aspinity is the world leader in the design and development of analog machine learning chips that are revolutionizing the architecture of always-on sensing devices that run on battery. Built using the company’s unique RAMP™ technology platform, Aspinity’s ultra-low power, trainable and programmable analogML™ (analog machine learning) core delivers highly discriminating analog event detection that eliminates the digitization of irrelevant data and dramatically extending battery life for consumer, IoT, industrial and medical applications.
Follow our work, updates, and recent success on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Find our related successful placements of leading executives here.
