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QD Vision’s
Quantum LightTM Product Platform Drives Expansion in First
Half of 2008
Other Topics:
Industrial Nano Coating
QD Vision
August 11, 2008
Developer of Nanotech-based Products Ramps up with Round of
Funding, Key Hires, New Contracts and Facilities Expansion
Watertown, MA -- QD Vision, developer of
nanotechnology-based solutions for displays and lighting,
experienced significant growth in the first half of 2008,
driven by increased momentum behind its Quantum Light™
product platform.
Marking its transition from early stage development to a
product company, QD Vision raised a $9 million round of
venture-capital financing, initiated a multi-million-dollar
development deal with In-Q-Tel, strengthened its
intellectual and management capital by adding key personnel,
and doubled the size of its facilities. |
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Also in the first half of 2008, four new
U.S. patents issued from applications that were included in
the patent rights in the nanotechnology field licensed to QD
Vision by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
The company also continued to design its Quantum Light™
product platform into new products being developed by
strategic partners, including some of the largest firms in
consumer electronics, flat-panel displays, and electronic
signage.
”We are making great progress in our mission to deliver
light emitting products and technology that will enable
significantly improved color quality, efficiency and designs
for next generation displays and lighting applications,”
said Dr. Dan Button, QD Vision CEO. “The combination of a
new round of financing, new government contracts and ongoing
work to design the Quantum Light™ lighting product platform
into products being developed by some of the largest
consumer companies is a clear indication of the company’s
momentum”
Key Personnel
Joining QD Vision is Dr. Sridhar Sadasivan, director of
product development, and Dr. Anne Marie Baker, government
program manager. Dr. Sadasivan, who will play a key role in
bringing QD Vision’s products to market, joins the company
from Rohm and Haas, where he was director of product
management for optical display films. He also has more than
10 years of experience with Eastman Kodak, where his
responsibilities included senior manager for product
development, and program manager for optical display films.
Dr. Baker is responsible for growing and managing QD
Vision’s government-funded development programs. She joins
QD Vision from the technology transfer office at the
University of Massachusetts, Lowell, where she focused on
federal contract grant management, and sponsored research
and licensing agreements. Previous experience includes
director of R&D at Tyco Adhesives, and R&D positions with
Polaroid Corp., Avery Dennison and W.R. Grace.
Expansion
QD Vision now occupies nearly 15,000 square feet of space at
its Watertown, Massachusetts location, an increase of more
than 80 percent. Much of the new space is dedicated to
research and development, testing and pilot manufacturing.
The company expects to more than double its total number of
employees from 15 at the beginning of 2008 to nearly 40 by
the end of the year. QD Vision currently has 27 employees,
having already doubled its technical staff in 2008.
Financing and In-Q-Tel Agreement
In April 2008, QD Vision announced it raised $9 million from
two leading venture capital firms, Highland Capital Partners
and North Bridge Venture Partners, and from In-Q-Tel, the
strategic investment firm launched by the CIA in 1999. The
funding will help it launch the first QD Vision Quantum
Light™ lighting products into commercial markets. The
company has now raised a total of more than $20 million in
equity financing.
Highland Capital and North Bridge Venture Partners
participated in all rounds of the company’s financing, while
In-Q-Tel is a new investor. The In-Q-Tel strategic
investment included a technology advancement agreement with
QD Vision to develop leading edge applications for the
commercial and government markets.
QD Vision is perfecting the light-emitting qualities of a
new class of nanomaterials called quantum dots. Using
proprietary chemistry and process technology, QD Vision can
engineer quantum dots to emit light spanning the complete
spectrum of colors from the visible to the infrared when
stimulated with photons or electrons. Leveraging an
expanding patent portfolio, the company is enabling a new
generation of practical lighting solutions that will set new
standards for brightness, color precision and purity, power
consumption and design flexibility.
About QD Vision, Inc.
QD Vision (www.qdvision.com) is a quantum-dot product
company that delivers highly differentiated lighting
solutions to major industries where color, power and design
matter. QD Vision’s Quantum Light™ product platform enables
step-change advances over other display and lighting
solutions such as liquid-crystal displays (LCDs), plasma
displays, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and even organic
LEDs (OLEDs). QD Vision is actively designing in products
with industry-leading companies in target markets including
consumer electronics and flat panel displays, electronic
signage, solid state lighting, and defense. Leveraging a
first-tier patent position in nanotechnology originating at
MIT, QD Vision is a privately held company based in the
Watertown, Mass. |
