Israel-based touch free electronics interface company eyeSight Mobile Technologies closed a $4.2m series B funding round yesterday, co-led by microprocessor manufacturer CEVA and Mitsui & Co. Global Investment, a corporate venturing unit belonging to Japan-based conglomerate Mitsui.
In addition to obtaining equity from the investors, eyeSight will use CEVA’s position to further eyeSight’s reach in the mobile handset and consumer electronics industry, also using Mitsui to expand its presence in the Japanese market.
The round also saw participation from existing angel investors, including Eli Talmor, the chairman of the London Business School’s Coller Institute of Private Equity, who it is stated is the largest investor in eyeSight, and Rami Lipman. eyeSight has now raised $8.2m since it was founded in 2005.
Katsuhiko Oizumi, chief executive officer of Mitsui & Co. Global Investment, said: "Mitsui & Co. Global Investment Ltd. is delighted to have invested in eyeSight to support the continued success of its innovative gesture recognition technology that will help transform the way individuals interact with devices. We are excited at the prospect of working with the talented management team and the high quality co-investors to establish eyeSight as a key player in the gesture recognition market."
Gideon Wertheizer, chief executive officer of CEVA, added: "This partnership expands the market reach for our CEVA-MM3000 platform to include the burgeoning embedded vision and scene analysis arenas and we are excited to bring the two companies closer together through this equity investment."