When Element 14 (E14) was acquired by Broadcom for $642 million in November 2000, it was an independent fabless silicon chip company, producing the industry's highest port count broadband xDSL, central office concentrator chip. The core of the chip design was a high-speed, low-power computer engine, which was expected to meet the growing needs of the market for broadband services.

Amadeus was attracted to E14 because of its outstanding management team. During the two years of its involvement with E14, Amadeus helped the founders to create a business plan and strategy and introduced the company to other venture capitalists in the US.