UMC, Foxconn join LensVector Series C financing round

LONDON: LensVector Incorporated, based in Mountain View, California, the United States, has announced that Foxconn Technology Group and United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) have joined Samsung as investors in LensVector’s $30-million Series C financing round.

In a statement, LensVector Incorporated said the other investors joining the Series C financing round are Harbor Pacific and TransLink Capital.

The proceeds of the present financing round will be used to expand its operations, according to LensVector.

The Series C financing round will bring the total financial backing of LensVector to over $50 million.

LensVector Incorporated was established in 2006 in order to commercialise optical technology that can shape, steer and focus light without mechanical movement. The company’s technology – which replaces bulky, complex and fragile mechanical autofocus mechanisms – is being sampled to key customers.

The technology developed by LensVector uses a buried layer of liquid crystal material, which enables electronic control to be used to alter the lens qualities of a glass cell.

Brian Kang, managing director of Samsung Ventures America, said in the statement issued by LensVector that LensVector’s unique technology makes advanced camera features – earlier available only in point and shoot digital still-cameras or high-end handsets – available to every camera phone. This technology is apt for video, too.