JAM Technologies, a maker of digital amplifier chips that can be used in cars, cell phones, headsets, and home audio systems, said Tuesday it raised $11.3 million in its second round of venture capital funding.

The company says its digital amplifiers, which are smaller than traditional analog amplifiers, can match their sound performance while generating less heat, delivering greater efficiency, and selling at a lower price.

Those are crucial advantages for the Austin, Texas-based company, which reports that sales of the type of digital amplifier chips it sells totaled $125 million in 2004. That market is expected to expand by 60 percent a year to more than $800 million by 2008, according to Tempe, Arizona-based market research firm Forward Concepts, which specializes in research on markets for digital signal processing technology.

“The consumer electronics market is rapidly transitioning to digital audio amplification,” said Eric Rothfus, managing director of Austin-based TL Ventures, which co-led the financing round with Origin Partners. “This is especially true for flat-panel TV, where the increased efficiency is a requirement.”

JAM, which holds 20 patents and has another 20 pending, in December introduced its first two amplifier chips, both aimed at the digital TV market. The company’s chief technology officer has said mobile phones are likely to be JAM’s next product frontier.

“Mobile phone manufacturers are building more and more audio features into cell phones, and these phones have very stringent power and heat requirements,” CTO Larry Kirn said in a backgrounder on the company’s web site. “JAM has the right technology and product line to capitalize on this opportunity.”

Capital from the latest financing round, which brings JAM’s fundraising total to $12.5 million, will be used to expand the company’s product line and ramp up production, said Rick Beale, vice president of marketing.

“With this funding, the company is really transitioning from a technology orientation to more of a product orientation,” he said. JAM plans to hire another 40 to 50 employees by the end of the year, on top its current staff of between 10 and 15, he said.

Other participants in the financing round were IntelCapital; EDBV Management, a fund management company controlled by the Singapore Economic Development Board; and two angel groups from Boston: Launchpad Ventures and Hub Angels.

“Their participation will help make the JAM True Fidelity digital amplifiers the solution of choice for consumer electronics,” said Mike Holt, JAM’s CEO.

Also on Tuesday, the company said it opened a new office in Singapore, where JAM said it will focus its sales and operations efforts, given the concentration of original equipment manufacturers in Asia. It will continue to develop new products and plan strategy and marketing efforts from its Austin offices.