View, a US-based advanced glass producer that counts industrial product maker General Electric and glass and ceramics producer Corning as investors, closed a series G round sized at more than $200m yesterday
The round was led by $70m from funds and accounts managed by investment manager BlackRock, and included TIAA Investments, an affiliate of asset manager Nuveen, which invested $50m, and undisclosed existing backers. The $100m first tranche closed in February 2017.
Formerly known as Soladigm, View supplies electrochromic glass that can be used for windows that can tint darker or lighter depending on the amount of external light.
The windows are used by smart building owners to increase energy efficiency, and have been installed in 350 commercial structures, with another 150 under construction.
The company will use the funding to grow its operations in order to meet increasing demand. CEO Rao Mulpuri told TechCrunch it is putting research and development money into technologies such as transparent displays that could be embedded in the glass.
Mulpuri said in a statement: “View is now installed across 20 million square feet of buildings and continues to experience tremendous growth across commercial offices, healthcare, education, multi-family residential and airports.”
View has now raised more than $710m in debt and equity financing, $150m of which came in a 2015 series F round featuring Corning, investment firm Madrone Capital Partners and sovereign wealth fund NZ Super Fund.
Corning had previously led a 2013 round for View, which closed at $72.6m with investment from General Electric and Khosla Ventures, the venture capital firm that took part in View’s $40m series D round in 2011 with GE unit GE Energy Financial Services, DBL Investors, Nano Dimension and Sigma Partners.
– Photo courtesy of View, Inc.