Varioptic Completes Closure of Recent Venture Capital Round with Investment from Dow Corporate Venture Capital
Lyon, 6 June 2006 Varioptic (www.varioptic.com), the liquid lens company, announces today that it has closed the second tranche of its most recent funding round with a 1 million euros investment including participation from Dow Corporate Venture Capital (DCVC), the VC arm of The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) and the company's existing investors, bringing the total of this round to 17,4 millions euros.
DCVC invests in novel and game-changing technologies capable of supporting significant new businesses. Varioptic delivers this type of disruptive technology to the optical space.
“We have been impressed by the quality of Varioptic’s technology and by the company’s underlying R&D; expertise” said Paul Morris, director, Dow CVC. “We believe that Varioptic’s technology can become a major component of the evolution of mobile phones. In addition, the company has proven its ability to capture new business and deliver high quality products on a global scale. Along with the quality of the management team, all these elements have convinced us to invest in Varioptic.”
"We're pleased to have Dow Corporate Venture Capital join our investment syndicate and will leverage the investment to increase our sales and marketing efforts" said Etienne Paillard, CEO, Varioptic S.A " Beyond the cash contribution, this investment allows Varioptic to have access to DOW expertise in advanced chemistry, a strategic area for the liquid lens company”
The initial close of this most recent investment round was announced in April of this year and includes existing investors Sofinnova Partners and PolyTechnos Venture-Partners, as well as new investors Iris Capital, XAnge Private Equity, and Delphis (more at www.varioptic.com).
About Dow Corporate Venture Capital
Dow Corporate Venture Capital has invested over $400 million in businesses based on Life Sciences & Biotechnology; Communications & Information Technology; and Physical Sciences. Dow invests, in part, through institutional venture capital firms, and also directly in start-up companies. The Dow Corporate Venture Capital team has developed a broad network of VC partners that specialize in Dow's targeted investment markets and geographies. Dow Corporate Venture Capital's investment professionals are widely experienced in discovering new investment opportunities, and supporting portfolio companies. Territories in which Dow is actively managing investments include North America, Europe and Asia.
About Varioptic
Varioptic pioneers in designing and manufacturing electrically controlled optical liquid lenses for optical designers. In order to maintain its technology leadership, Varioptic heavily invests in R&D; for the further development of innovative products for various applications. Founded in 2002, Varioptic is located in Lyon (France) and headed by Etienne Paillard, CEO. For more information, please visit www.varioptic.com.
Press contacts:
Isabelle Jourdain (Europe and Asia) Todd Keefe (United States)
[email protected] [email protected]
Phone : +33 157 639 639 Phone: +1 617-262-1968
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