Consumer electronics producer Samsung has agreed to buy Israel-based portfolio company and smartphone camera technology producer Corephotonics in a $155m deal that will hand exits to several corporates, Globes has reported.
Corephotonics designs duel-camera technology that helps mobile device users take professional photographs, integrating capabilities such as optical zoom, low-light performance, depth features and optical image stabilisation.
The company partners manufacturers to create components, catering them to the clients’ design and image specifications.
Samsung unit Samsung Ventures made an initial investment in Corephotonics in 2015, taking part in a series B round sized at $17.8m that included memory card maker SanDisk and hard disk provider Western Digital, according to Pitchbook.
Amiti Ventures, Magma Venture Partners, Horizon Ventures, BetaAngels Partners, LSG Industrials, OurCrowd, CE Ventures, iVentures Asia and Radiant Venture Capital reportedly also backed the series B while SanDisk and Western Digital took part through SanDisk Ventures and Western Digital Capital.
Mizmaa Ventures and private equity firm Beijing Singularity Power Investment Management subsequently co-led the company’s $15m series C round in 2017, investing alongside Samsung, manufacturing services provider Foxconn, chipmaker MediaTek and an unnamed smartphone technology producer.
The series C round boosted Corephotonics’ overall funding to more than $50m. Its investors also include telecoms equipment supplier CK Telecom according to its website.