OmniPerception secures multi million venture capital funding round from international investors
Press Release, 10th May 2005
OmniPerception, a world leader in computer vision technology today announced venture capital funding from Paris-based Iris Capital and Glasgow-based Pentech Ventures. OmniPerception, acknowledged for its world-leading accuracy in automatic facial verification, will use the funds raised to increase sales of existing products and to further invest in the product development of its growing range of Intelligent Video solutions. OmniPerception was advised by FirstCapital, the specialist technology corporate finance adviser.
In announcing the investment, David McIntosh, OmniPerception CEO, said today:
"The strength and international scope of the two investors underline the global importance of the work that OmniPerception is doing. I am very grateful to First Capital Corporation, our corporate finance advisors, for bringing together this syndicate of world class investors and their unique mix of skills. FirstCapital's experience and knowledge of the VC market and their trusted advice were absolutely critical in securing this unique investment."
Paul Fisher at FirstCapital said:
"OmniPerception is cementing its position as an international force in computer vision. We were delighted to work with the management team on this funding round, which marks an important stage in the company's development."
Based on unique technology first developed at the University of Surrey, OmniPerception's products are already making a stir in rapidly expanding market areas. These include "OmniPerception Affinity Face Recognition" software that provides automatic ID solutions in areas such as Passports, ID cards, secure access control and the prevention of identity theft and also the company's "Magellan" automatic logo and brand monitoring system used to assess the impact of the millions of pounds spent on sports marketing every year.
Sandy McKinnon, Director, Pentech Ventures, said:
"OmniPerception met our principal investment criteria of having strategically important Intellectual Property aimed at a very large market opportunity. The technology team is first rate and we were also attracted by the quality of the executive management who have achieved so much to date."
Alexander Wiedmer, Partner of Iris Capital commented:
"OmniPerception has great upside potential; we were particularly impressed by the breadth of applications the company can reach with its valuable technology portfolio."
With this new investment funding and its partner companies which include Sharp Electronics, the Battelle Memorial Institute, Aurora Computer Services, Steria, Precise Biometrics, UniSys and others, OmniPerception will exploit its technology across its product range, to meet growing market demand worldwide. Current projects include Secure Access Control, Civil Identification, Real-time Image Analysis and Surveillance - for both government and commercial applications. These areas have a total market size estimated at 1.25 billion Euros in 2005 and are predicted to grow rapidly in the years ahead.
NOTES TO EDITORS
About OmniPerception
OmniPerception Limited is an innovative Computer Vision technology company founded in 2001 by leading research engineers from the University of Surrey's Centre for Vision, Speech and Signal Processing, a world centre of excellence in this field. OmniPerception develops solutions for security markets based on its patent pending Facial Biometrics technology. OmniPerception works with systems integrators and solutions providers around the globe in particular to enhance Homeland and Corporate security. The company's proprietary biometric technology is widely recognized as taking automatic face recognition to higher levels. OmniPerception's intellectual property portfolio and in-depth expertise drives a growing range of products in global markets, particularly in the field of machine readable travel documents and integrated access control and surveillance solutions.
For further information visit www.omniperception.com
About FirstCapital Corporation
FirstCapital is a technology corporate finance advisory firm based in London, specializing in venture capital fund raising and mergers and acquisitions advice to high growth technology companies.
The team is experienced in executing a wide variety of deals from start-ups to multinationals and in both UK and international cross border transactions. They provide pro-active, informed, full-service deal management, including assistance with strategy and planning, finding and approaching investors or M&A targets, valuations and hands-on transaction execution.
FirstCapital works in partnership with our clients to achieve their goals, offering impartial advice and support based on our knowledge of the market and of each client's individual requirements, and sharing alongside them in the risks and the rewards of success.
For further information visit www.firstcapital.co.uk
About Pentech Ventures
Pentech Ventures are a specialist UK early-stage software investment fund. Pentech invests in "best of breed" software companies that can demonstrate strong technical leadership with products addressing global markets. Investing in UK and Ireland, Pentech was formed in July 2001 and has made 9 investments to date.
Pentech Ventures is part of Penta Capital Partners and is regulated under the FSA.
For further information visit www.pentechvc.com
About Iris Capital
Iris Capital is a pan-European venture capital company specialising in media, communications and information technology. Since its inception in the mid-eighties, the Paris-based Iris Capital team has managed investments in more than 180 companies located in 17 different countries, and has generated more than 130 full exits, achieving consistently superior returns. Iris Capital targets opportunities in high-growth technology or services companies across various investment stages, and provides active support to its portfolio companies.
For further information visit www.iriscapital.com
The Investment
The two investors syndicated together in a significant multi-million euro investment in consideration for equity in OmniPerception. Further details of the investment round were not disclosed.
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