Battery Ventures and Pitango Venture Capital today announced their $17 million Series A investment in Anobit Technologies, LTD. The round was led by Battery Ventures. Anobit, based in Herzelia, Israel, is a fabless semiconductor start-up company developing enabling technologies for the large and growing flash memory market. The flash memory market has grown from $8.2 billion in 2001 to over $20 billion in 2006, and is projected to reach more than $25 billion in 2010 [Source: Gartner]. With this investment, Battery General Partner Scott Tobin and Pitango Managing General Partner Rami Beracha join Anobit’s board.

Anobit’s technology optimizes the cost and performance of flash memory devices, paving the way for the next generation of memory solutions. The company was founded by three internationally recognized experts in the fields of signal processing, digital communications, system and silicon design: Professor Ehud Weinstein, Dr. Ofir Shalvi and Ariel Maislos.

“It’s been great getting to know the team over these last few years. When we discussed this newest venture with them it was apparent that they once again were putting together one of the more gifted teams in Israel to attack a very difficult problem,” said Scott Tobin, Battery general partner.

Battery has invested in a number of successful semiconductor companies, including: AnalogicTech [NASDAQ: AATI], Lara Networks (acquired by Cypress Semiconductor), PixelWorks [NASDAQ: PXLW] and SigmaTel [NASDAQ: SGTL]. Its current portfolio includes: Achronix Semiconductor, Freescale Semiconductor, MaxLinear and Optichron.

Pitango’s investments include companies such as Audio Codes, Dune Networks, Kilopass Technology Inc., Optimal Test and Provigent.

“They are tackling a very large market with an incredibly elegant technical solution, and have the potential to have a tremendous impact on the way the memory and storage markets develop worldwide. Our backing will help the founders rapidly scale their team and operations to meet customer demand and continue to develop novel solutions for the large and growing flash memory market,” said Rami Beracha, Pitango managing general partner.