Nokia Growth Partners (NGP), Nokia’s corporate venturing unit, has invested in another camera phone technology company, Pelican Imaging. The closing of the $20m series C funding round also included new strategic investor Qualcomm Incorporated, acting through its venture investment group, Qualcomm Ventures. Existing venture investors Globespan Capital Partners, Granite Ventures, InterWest Partners and IQT also took part in the latest round.
The mobile imaging space is one that NGP has embraced more than most, and said in a statement that compared to Carl Zeiss, Pelican may be a relative newcomer to the photography market, but the US-based company has already developed its own clever image processing technology.
Pelican’s technology is based on combining signals from arrays of sensors and enables very slim camera modules with the ability to capture depth and stereo information. The user will effectively be able to change focus of individual objects after taking a photograph. Thanks to intelligent software they can even remove unwanted objects.
The technology can also combine regular image sensing with infrared, meaning images can be shot literally in the dark without the need for a flash.
InVisage and Luminate are other imaging companies already in NGP’s investment portfolio.