Corporate-backed Energy Technology Ventures and Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners, a private equity unit of the US-based bank, have helped visual software company Oblong Industries raise $21m of a planned $25m fundraising, according to a filing with US regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission and an Oblong statement.
The series B round on Thursday was joined by venture firm Foundry Group, a prior investor in Oblong Industries, which led the funding. Energy Technology Ventures is a corporate venturing unit backed by corporates GE, NRG Energy and ConocoPhillips. The company was co-founded by John Underkoffler.
The company’s different software programmes provide data visualisation and analytics for use across multiple platforms. This so-called spatial operating environment was first show-cased in the Steven Spielberg film Minority Report, on which Underkoffler worked. The software was filmed in use by news provider TechCrunch last year.
GE Digital Energy recently began using the company’s software for Smart Grid analytics. This partnership with GE was through its $20m Ecomagination Accelerator programme.
Kevin Skillern, GE Energy Financial Services’ managing director of venture capital and also part of Energy Technology Ventures, said: "We seek to invest in brilliant innovations that solve real problems with a talented team that can execute. We found that in Oblong. Their groundbreaking technology has the potential to fundamentally change how we interact with and act on data."
Jamey Sperans, managing director, Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners, said: "We believe Oblong’s spatial operating system is revolutionizing the way people interact with their computers. We are delighted to be partnering with Oblong’s team of visionaries in pursuing the multiple market opportunities for this transformative technology."
Oblong’s team began its research at the MIT Media Lab two decades ago. The team’s designers include executives formerly with technology businesses including Apple, Google, Pixar, Microsoft, Accenture and Walt Disney Imagineering.
Oblong said it would use the funds to scale its product commercialisation.
The company also previously raised $150,000 in January 2011, according to this SEC filing. while the company also raised $8.8m in 2008, according to this filing