Movidius secures series B investment to fuel growth in mobile video

DUBLIN, IRELAND: Mobile video specialist Movidius today announced that it has secured US$7.5 million in Series B investment. The funding round has been concluded with existing shareholders including Celtic House Venture Partners, Capital E, Emertec Gestion, AIB Seed Capital Fund and angel investors.

This round will be used to fund Movidius’ growth plans as the company begins deployment of its Myriad platform providing advanced imaging capabilities including 3D video capture in the next generation of mobile handsets.

Movidius’ innovative low-power processor and application software technology enables a wide range of advanced multimedia features on mobile devices including real-time editing of video content, 3D mobile video, as well as a variety of high-quality video enhancements for improving video download bandwidth utilization.

By delivering the best mobile video experience for end-users to capture, edit, view and share content directly from their handset, Movidius’ Myriad platform helps mobile handset OEMs substantially differentiate their multimedia smartphone offering while also providing operators with significant cost advantages and new revenue streams.

Sean Mitchell, CEO Movidius commented: “This funding is a powerful validation of Movidius’ technology and market traction. It highlights the continued support and confidence from our shareholders. This investment will enable us to drive our first products into high volume production and to capitalize on the exploding mobile industry demand for the unique new user experiences we are enabling with the Myriad platform such as 3D mobile video.”

Roger Maggs, Partner, Celtic House Venture Partners commented: “In Movidius, we immediately recognized a team that had developed disruptive technology and that provides solutions that address both operator and OEM needs for greater differentiation of their products and services, especially in the increasingly competitive Smartphone segment.

“We continue to invest in Movidius because we are confident of its ability to deliver a truly world class technology that will fundamentally revolutionize the way in which users interact with their mobile handsets in a rapidly growing market.”

“Despite tough conditions in the global economy, Movidius’ success and progress over the past year reinforces the potential of its ground-breaking technology,” commented Rudi Severijns, Partner, Capital-E. “Industry drivers and application trends clearly indicate a shift towards new mobile system partitioning approaches and Movidius is in a strong position with its flexible architecture to take full advantage of this fantastic opportunity.”

Movidius is now sampling product to major players in the mobile market, and is moving from development to product deployment. Mass production of Movidius’ products is expected to begin later in 2010, with mobile handsets containing those products due to hit the market early in 2011.