MicroEmissive Displays the has announced an investment by Sigma Technology Management from the Sigma Technology Venture Fund. Sigma invested a total of £1,000,000, joining exisiting investors VCs Scottish Equity Partners, European based BASF Venture Capital GmbH, and 3i.
Commenting on the investment, Neil Crabb of Sigma said;
“MED is operating at the forefront of CMOS silicon and Organic Light Emitting Polymer (OLEP) display technologies. MED is poised to enter the commercial stage of its development and will be the first company worldwide to offer an OLEP microdisplay to the rapidly growing digital camera and camcorder markets. Sigma Technology is experienced in backing semiconductor companies in this market sector and looks forward to supporting MED through this high growth phase”.
Bill Campbell, Chief Executive Officer at MED, said;
“The introduction of two new investors at this stage in the company’s development reflects the strong potential of the near-eye microdisplay market in general and MED in particular. The company is on track to deliver its unique product to customers in the digital still and digital video camera markets over the coming months providing compelling benefits of low power consumption and image quality.”
Microdisplays are very small active-matrix displays capable of displaying TV-quality pictures and viewed under optical magnification. Incumbent microdisplay technologies, mostly based on liquid crystal, require the support of additional driver IC’s and optical components such as backlights, polarizers and beam-splitters. MED’s approach takes away the need of these support components while offering reduced power consumption, longer battery life and other advantages.
Microdisplays are currently used as Electronic Viewfinders (EVFs) in almost all camcorders, and many digital still cameras. Future uses are likely to include 3G cell phones, hands-free kits, toys, games and consumer-price headsets for computer games and personal DVD players.