Feb 15 2011
Mobile World Congress -- InVisage Technologies, Inc. -- a Silicon Valley-based start-up that is revolutionizing the image sensor market -- today announced that it has received its series C round of venture funding, led by Intel Capital.
The undisclosed amount will be used to bring the company's breakthrough QuantumFilm™ technology and products into mass production. Intel Capital joins InVisage's existing investors RockPort Capital, InterWest Partners, OnPoint Technologies and Charles River Ventures.
"Image sensors for smart phones and handheld devices are a huge market opportunity and InVisage is well positioned to capture significant market share," says Dave Flanagan, managing director, Intel Capital. "InVisage is the first company in a while to think differently about image sensors and we are confident that its products will lead the imaging market on a new vector of innovation."
"The image sensor industry as a whole has focused entirely on increasing the number of pixels and has failed to see the big picture. As a result, there has been a lack of new ideas in the market for some time," says Jess Lee, CEO, InVisage Technologies. "InVisage's QuantumFilm technology will bring stunning image quality and advanced new features to an industry that is desperate for true innovation."
QuantumFilm was developed by InVisage after years of research at the University of Toronto and at InVisage. The technology is based on quantum dots -- semiconductors with unique light-capture properties. QuantumFilm works by capturing an imprint of a light image, and then employing the silicon beneath it to read out the image and turn it into versatile digital signals. InVisage spent three years engineering the quantum dot material to produce highly-sensitive image sensors that integrate with standard CMOS manufacturing processes. The first application of QuantumFilm will enable high performance in tiny form factors, breaking silicon's inherent performance-resolution tradeoff.
Initially targeting cameraphone applications, which is the largest and fastest growing portion of the image sensor market, InVisage Technologies' QuantumFilm will be sampling by summer, and could be in devices early next year.
Source: http://www.invisageinc.com/