British fabless chip company Icera's story  contains important lessons for companies wishing to become global giants. Europe has deep strengths in hard core technology. And now it has a new generation of managers that have already been through the experience once of building companies in Europe and have no need to cash out early. It has investors ready to step up and fund great entrepreneurs with great technologies. But it is a long haul for Europe's billion dollar babies and all the more so for capital-intensive semiconductor businesses.Read more

While consumer Internet start-ups get lots of buzz, companies that capitalize on Europe's engineering skills often reach much greater valuations. Think CSR, a $4 billion semiconductor company at the time Skype sold for $3 billion. That is one of the reasons why DFJ Esprit agreed to acquire 3i's European portfolio, which includes Icera, a chip company founded by serial entrepreneur Stan Boland.Read more