Movidius, a US-based computational image-processor chip and software company, has raised $16 m series D funding led jointly by Robert Bosch Venture Capital, the corporate venturing unit of Germany-based industrial group Robert Bosch, growth equity fund Atlantic Bridge and venture capital firm DFJ Esprit, with participation from existing investors, venture capital fund Capital E, AIB Seed Capital Fund (established by Allied Irish Banks in partnership with Enterprise Ireland) and private investors.
This new round will be used to accelerate Movidius’ next-generation products and build its presence and R&D team in Silicon Valley, where its new U.S. headquarters are located.
Dan Dobberpuhl, who is described as having helped shape the modern semiconductor industry, has been appointed as Movidius chairman of the board. Brian Long of Atlantic Bridge, Brian Caulfield of DFJ Esprit and Hongquan Jiang of Robert Bosch Venture Capital will also serve on the board of directors.
Remi El-Ouazzane, Movidius chief executive officer, said: “This new investment allows us to bring our latest computational imaging processor to market early next year, and continue to innovate ground-breaking mobile applications with software partners. Meeting the constant increases in processing power needed to deliver a quality user experience at the right power envelope for advanced mobile applications has required an entirely fresh approach to architecture and not just an incremental enhancement to existing technologies.”
Dan Dobberpuhl, Movidius chairman, said: “This new Movidius computational image-processing architecture opens up completely new possibilities on mobile devices that were once the realm of science fiction. In the near future, high-performance applications like visual search and 3D-enabled e-commerce using smartphones and tablets with minimal battery drain are within our grasp.”