Together with existing investors MIG Funds and Danube Equity, Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH (RBVC) today announced the completion of a 7.1 million Euro investment round in IDENT Technology AG. The investment supports strong growth plans and the introduction of a 3D gesture recognition chip.
IDENT Technology AG, the leader in intelligent e-field based sensors for the consumer electronics industry, is pleased to welcome RBVC among its investors. Existing investors MIG Funds and Danube Equity also participated in the round.
"Our Z-Sense technology is all about making the user experience natural, intuitive, simple and fun", said Dr. Roland Aubauer, Chief Technology Officer of IDENT. "With our proximity technology already in production we have decided to take our innovations further and launch our own GestIC chip for the fast growing three-dimensional gesture control market in 2012."
The GestIC addresses mobile devices of the consumer electronics industry and allows real-time tracking of free space hand or finger movements in front of a device or display. The chip enables a broad range of signals from simple touch detection over sophisticated 3D gesture recognition to dynamic positional data of the user's hand. The technology advantages lie in its detection range, high resolution, robustness and very low power consumption.
Robert Bosch Venture Capital's participation demonstrates its support of IDENT's strategic vision. Dr. Dieter Kraft, Investment Partner for RBVC's European Region, said: "We are impressed by IDENT's technological and commercial achievements, and by the spirit and capabilities of the team. We are convinced that their solutions will make groundbreaking contributions to the user interface world and are happy to support their mission."
Michael Motschmann, Chief Executive Officer of MIG Funds adds: " RBVC is the venture arm of one of the world leading innovators. This investment is a proof of IDENT's unique Intellectual Property."
Christopher Kampshoff, Chief Financial Officer of IDENT concludes: "We are proud that we could engage RBVC for our goals. With our global customers we are creating a new generation of mobile devices which the industry has not yet seen."
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About IDENT Technology AG
IDENT Technology AG is an award winning company offering intellectual property and semiconductor solutions. IDENT's scalable and patented technology is especially designed for the consumer electronics industry.
Based on electrical near field sensing IDENT's technology allows realization of intuitive and new, revolutionary human interface solutions. The company's software suite covers a feature range from 1D touch to 3D gesture recognition.
www.ident-technology.com
About Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH
The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. In the areas of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology, some 280,000 associates generated sales of more than 47 billion euro in fiscal 2010. Each year, Bosch spends more than 3.5 billion euros for research and development, and applies for over 3,000 patents worldwide. With all its products and services, Bosch enhances the quality of life by providing solutions which are both innovative and beneficial.
Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH invests worldwide in innovative start-up companies at all stages of their development. Its investment activities focus on technology companies working in areas of business of current and future relevance for Bosch, above all automation and control, energy and environment, enabling technologies, and healthcare. Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH also invests in services/ business models as well as new materials that are relevant to the above-mentioned areas of business.
www.bosch.com and www.rbvc.com
About MIG Verwaltungs AG
MIG Funds is a venture capital firm with an investment focus on early to mid stage life science and technology companies in German speaking Europe. MIG is the management entity of 11 venture capital funds (MIG Funds) exclusively distributed by AWAG.
www.mig.ag
Contacts:
IDENT Technology AG
Klaus Zeyn – Vice President Sales & Marketing
+49
-8153 88 969-0
media@ident-technology.com
