PRESS RELEASE: LensVector™ Announces More Than $50 Million In Financing
Institutional Venture Partners Leads Growth Investment in Company That Replaces Moving Parts of Camera Phones with Solid-State Optics
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Feb. 4, 2010 - LensVector™, Inc. , the leader in solid-state optical components for camera phones, laptops and other consumer electronics, today announced it has closed $30 million in a Series C financing round, bringing the total financial backing of the company to more than $50 million. Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) led the new funding and joins existing investors Menlo Ventures, Samsung, Silicon Valley Bank, Mitsui and Kodak. LensVector will use proceeds from the financing to expand operations.
As part of the funding, Norm Fogelsong, General Partner of IVP, has joined the LensVector Board of Directors. ''We were attracted to LensVector because of its proprietary autofocus technology and the large camera phone market opportunity,'' said Fogelsong. ''The LensVector management team is also top-notch, with decades of experience in this industry.''
LensVector has developed breakthrough optical technology that can shape, steer and focus light without mechanical movement. The company's technology addresses the need for autofocus and other advanced optical features in the large and rapidly growing market for miniature cameras embedded in mobile phones, laptops, pocket video camcorders and other consumer electronics. Sampling today with key customers, LensVector technology replaces the complex, bulky and often fragile mechanical autofocus mechanisms currently found in camera phones with a simple and easy-to-integrate solid-state component.
''LensVector is receiving tremendous response from handset customers that want small, energy-efficient, rugged autofocus solutions that can easily be integrated into their devices and mass manufactured at a competitive cost. Consumer demand for better picture quality, plus high-value applications like bar-code scanning and video, are key demand drivers,'' said LensVector CEO Derek Proudian. ''This financing will allow us to scale our manufacturing capacity and better serve this growing demand from our customers.''
Conference Call
LensVector will host a conference call for media and analysts on Thursday, Feb. 4, at 9 a.m. PST, 12 p.m. EST. On the call, CEO Derek Proudian will discuss company, technology and financing details. The conference call can be accessed by dialing 866-469-3239 and passcode 21351615.
About LensVector, Inc.
LensVector is leading a revolution in solid-state optics with solutions that replace moving parts of tiny cameras found in mobile phones, laptops and other consumer electronics with solid-state optical components. LensVector delivers the smallest autofocus products in the industry, making high-quality photography, m-commerce and video practical for everyone. LensVector solutions integrate easily with any camera module and are manufactured using proven, scalable processes from the LCD and semiconductor packaging industries. For more information, visit www.lensvector.com.
About Institutional Venture Partners (IVP)
With more than $2.2 billion of committed capital, Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) is one of the premier later-stage venture capital and growth equity firms in the United States. The partnership is currently investing IVP XII, a $600 million later-stage fund focused on investments in rapidly-growing technology and media companies. Founded in 1980, IVP has a 29 year IRR of 43.2% and has invested in over 300 companies, 85 of which have gone public. IVP specializes in venture growth investments, industry rollups, founder liquidity transactions and select public market investments. Since its inception, IVP has invested in such notable companies as ArcSight (ARST), Ask Jeeves (IACI), Aspect Communications (ASPT), At Road (ARDI), Business.com (RHD), Clarify (CLFY), ComScore (SCOR), Concur Technologies (CNQR), Danger (MSFT), Digital River (DRIV), Form Factor (FORM), Foundry Networks (FDRY), HomeAway, Juniper Networks (JNPR), LSI Corporation (LSI), Mobile 365 (SY), MySQL (JAVA), Netflix (NFLX), Polycom (PLCM), Quigo (TWX), Seagate (STX), Synchronoss (SNCR), Tivo (TIVO), Twitter, Websense (WBSN) and Zynga. For more information, visit http://www.ivp.com or follow IVP on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ivp.
About Menlo Ventures
Menlo Ventures provides long-term capital and management support to early-stage and emerging-growth companies. Menlo is one of Silicon Valley's oldest venture capital partnerships, and has organized and managed ten venture funds since their inception in 1976. With over $4 billion under management since inception, and a team with over two hundred years of collective experience in technology, marketing, sales and general management, they have the resources to support the most ambitious of projects. For more information, visit http://www.menloventures.com
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LensVector is a trademark or registered trademark of LensVector, Inc. in the United States and in other countries. All other brands or product names are the property of their respective holders.
(First posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 15:52 EST)