Tel Aviv, Israel (PRWEB) May 6, 2008 -
Prime Sense announces that it has completed a second round of funding, raising $ 20.4 million. The round was led by Canaan Partners and included A round investors, Gemini Israel Funds (who also provided the seed funding) and Genesis Partners.
Prime Sense develops innovative technology that provides digital devices with three dimensional vision, enabling users to interact, in real time and at low cost, with consumer devices in a simple, intuitive way.
“We, at Prime Sense, work closely with our customers to develop a unique set of experiences. This engaging and highly interactive set of experiences will drive a mass market of consumers to buy products that are based on our technology. The funds raised will enable the company to shift from the development phase to sales,” says Inon Beracha, CEO of Prime Sense.
“We are delighted to have Canaan Partners, a leading U.S. venture capital firm with strong ties and access to our strategic customers, as an investor in our company,” he adds.
Prime Sense was founded by a team of entrepreneurs led by Aviad Maizels, the company’s President, and includes Alex Shpunt, Dmitri Rais, Ophir Sharon and Tamir Berliner.
Aviad Maizels notes, “In the years since the mouse was introduced, the complexity of consumer devices has evolved dramatically. In comparison, user interfaces remained under developed. Prime Sense’s technology propels user interfaces straight into the future. This new investment constitutes a strong expression of confidence in the company’s team, who have worked tirelessly to develop a series of technological breakthroughs to transform our vision into reality.”
“We are very excited to join Prime Sense’s group of investors,” says Izhar Shay, a Venture Partner at Canaan Partners. “We believe that the company’s breakthrough technology positions it as a market leader in the fast growing arena of 3D machine vision, and we are delighted to see the market traction that Prime Sense is gaining with major brands.”
Izhar Shay has joined the company’s Board of Directors, which is chaired by Dr. Orna Berry. Inon Beracha and Aviad Maizels from Prime Sense, Avi Hasson from Gemini Israel Funds, and Jonathan Saacks from Genesis Partners will continue to serve as board members.
About Prime Sense
Prime Sense develops technology that enables real time, low cost three dimensional machine vision. The technology enables users to interact with consumer devices in a simple and intuitive way. A series of technological breakthroughs makes it the first company to offer affordable 3D machine vision solution for the consumer market. The device enables intuitive full body interaction for gaming, gesture based interface and background replacement for video communication/chat and self generated content applications.
Prime Sense is the leader provider of 3D sensing and understanding technology. For more information visit: http://www.primesense.com.
About Canaan Partners
Canaan Partners invests in visionary entrepreneurs and provides them the networks, insights and operational guidance required to build high-performance technology and healthcare companies. For 20 years, they have taken an active and committed role in the companies in which they invest, and have completed more than 69 mergers and acquisitions and 53 IPOs. With $ 3 billion under management and a worldwide footprint, the firm’s technology team is committed to catalyzing the growth of innovative companies in the digital media, communications & mobility, enterprise and clean tech industries. Among its successes are DoubleClick, the leading online advertising solution, Match.com, the most popular online dating site in the world, CommerceOne, the company that pioneered B2B ecommerce; Capstone Turbine, first to market and world’s leading producer of commercially viable microturbine energy products; and VOIP equipment supplier Acme Packet, which was one of the top ten performing tech IPOs of 2006. Other Canaan technology investments include Active Networks, BharatMatrimony, Blurb, Cortina, GroundWorks, ID Analytics, Tremor Media and SuccessFactors. Canaan has offices in California, Connecticut, India and Israel. For more information visit: http://www.canaan.com.
About Gemini
A pioneer in Israel’s venture capital industry, Gemini Israel Funds has grown to be the leading Israeli seed and early stage fund in the Information Technology arena. The firm, founded in 1993, manages more than $ 700 million in five funds. Investments are focused on the areas of Communications and Wireless Technologies, Enterprise Software, Internet, Consumer Electronics and Semiconductors. Through offices in Israel and Silicon Valley, Gemini offers portfolio companies access to top-tier U.S. based investors and a global network of corporate partners. As investment professionals, Gemini’s key contributions include an ability to make daring investment decisions and the capability to utilize past operational experience in assisting portfolio companies. Past successes include: Allot, Mellanox, Saifun, Precise, Traiana, Diligent, Butterfly, Commtouch, Ornet, Verisity, Jacada, Ceragon, Riverhead, nLayers, Itemfield and others.
http://www.gemini.co.il
About Genesis
Genesis Partners is a leading Israeli venture capital firm focused on early stage companies in the information and communication technology (ICT) sectors. Established in 1996, Genesis Partners manages over $ 500 million in capital commitments across three funds, and has made over 70 investments with 27 successful exits, including AudioCodes, ClickSoftware, Fundtech, Modem-Art, Allot Communications and Kidaro. Genesis Partners has strong ties to the Israeli entrepreneurial community and the global technology industry, and a strong team of professionals with extensive experience in venture capital, technology, operations and entrepreneurship.http://www.genesispartners.com
Contacts:
Dasi Wagner
Wagner Grienstein PR
dwagner@netvision.net.il
dasiw@wgpr.co.il
Phone 972-3-5615606
Gina Vakili
Canaan Partners
gvakili@canaan.com
Phone (650) 854-8092
###
