oney was secured in a round of Series B funding from a group of venture investors, and will be used to expand Eye-Fi’s portfolio of products, and expand distribution into new markets, and allow the company to expand so it can handle the new business.
For details, read the Eye-Fi press release:
EYE-FI SECURES $11 MILLION IN SERIES B FUNDING
TransLink Capital and LMS Capital to Bring Strong International Connections, Support Worldwide Growth of Eye-Fi Products and Services
Mountain View, Calif., — Eye-Fi, Inc.(www.eye.fi), makers of the world’s first wireless memory card for digital cameras, today announced it has secured $11 million in Series B funding. The round was led , with new funding from LMS Capital and participation from existing investors Opus Capital and Shasta Ventures. TransLink Capital’s co-founder and managing director, Toshi Otani, will join the Eye-Fi board.
Eye-Fi will use the investment to fund further development of its portfolio, expand distribution into new markets, and scale its organization and market development activities to support its fast-growing business.
“This investment gives Eye-Fi the long-term resources to establish this new category of products and services that help consumers manage and share their digital memories,” said Jef Holove, CEO of Eye-Fi. “The combination of our current and new investors gives the company far-reaching capabilities to extend our efforts in the United States and abroad, establishing new industry partnerships and accelerating our market development activities.”
Eye-Fi was founded in the summer of 2005 and launched its first product, the Eye-Fi Card, in October 2007. Since launch, the company has expanded its product portfolio and introduced new services%3B formed partnerships with Nikon, Lexar and more than 20 online photo destinations%3B and expanded its online and brick-and-mortar retail distribution to include national channels, such as Circuit City.
“Eye-Fi is changing the game for consumers and the photography services industry by making it simple for consumers to share and store their digital memories,” said Otani of TransLink. “We see a big growth opportunity for Eye-Fi to expand into new markets like Europe and Asia where digital photography is already an established practice.”
TransLink Capital is a U.S.-based venture capital firm focused on investments in early- to expansion-stage technology start-up companies. It specializes in investing on behalf of industry leaders in the early adopter markets of Asia. LMS Capital PLC is an independent investment company whose shares are traded on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange. Its investment portfolio is valued at more than $400 million and comprises investments in both the United States and United Kingdom, with a spread of early-stage investments, development capital and mature company buy-outs. Opus Capital, a leading venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, Calif., invests in early stage technology companies. Shasta Ventures, also based in Menlo Park, has developed an expertise working with companies that have invented internet-connected devices.
Eye-Fi has received numerous product awards, including being named one of PC World’s “100 Best Products of 2008,” and was recently honored in the AlwaysOn Global 250 Top Private Company List for companies that are demonstrating significant market traction and pursuing game-changing technology in a specific sector. For more information, please visit www.eye.fi.
