eyeSight Raises $4.2 Million in New Funding Round Led by CEVA and Mitsui & Co. Global Investment Ltd

HERZLIYA, Israel, November 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

eyeSight Mobile Technologies, a developer of touch-free interfaces for digital devices, announced today that it had completed a $4.2 million Series B round of funding.

The investment round was led by strategic investors CEVA, Inc. (NASDAQ:CEVA) (LSE:CVA), the leading licensor of silicon intellectual property (SIP) platform solutions and DSP cores, and Mitsui & Co. Global Investment, the investment arm of Japan's trading giant Mitsui & Co., Ltd., which invests in medical healthcare, Cleantech, IT and consumer services.

Current investors also participated, including Prof. Eli Talmor, founder and chairman of the Coller Institute of Private Equity at the London Business School, who is the largest investor in eyeSight.

"The addition of proven market leaders such as CEVA and Mitsui emphasizes their strong belief in eyeSight's innovative Gesture Recognition Technology and our ability to bring it to the mass market," said Gideon Shmuel, eyeSight's CEO. "Our investors realize that our software, which can be easily integrated into devices, chipset, operating systems and applications, provides an easy way to extend the normal user interface into new areas, offering greater interaction and user experience."

CEVA, with its leading position in the DSP IP market and its strong presence across many devices and vendors in the handset and consumer electronic market, will boost eyeSight's reach. Moreover, Mitsui's prominent position in the Japanese market will help eyeSight in its attempt to expand its presence in that strategic local market.

eyeSight will offer its advanced portfolio of touch-free interface technologies, including gesture recognition and finger tracking software for users as part of the CEVA-MM3000 image signal processing (ISP) and video platform. The combined offering delivers an ultra-low power, software-based solution enabling the cost-efficient deployment of gesture recognition technologies in mass market devices.

"The combination of the fully programmable CEVA-MM3000 together with eyeSight's industry-leading gesture technology clearly demonstrates the versatility of our powerful, software-based ISP and video platform significantly," said Gideon Wertheizer, CEO of CEVA. "This partnership expands the market reach for our CEVA-MM3000 platform to include the burgeoning embedded vision and scene analysis arenas and we are excited to bring the two companies closer together through this equity investment."

"Mitsui & Co. Global Investment Ltd. is delighted to have invested in eyeSight to support the continued success of its innovative gesture recognition technology that will help transform the way individuals interact with devices," said Katsuhiko Oizumi, CEO of Mitsui & Co. Global Investment Ltd. "We are excited at the prospect of working with the talented management team and the high quality co-investors to establish eyeSight as a key player in the gesture recognition market."

About eyeSight

eyeSight Mobile Technologies is a leader in touch-free Interfaces for consumer electronics. Its technology allows users to control mobile and portable devices with simple gestures by using the built-in camera, advanced real-time image processing and machine vision algorithms.

eyeSight will showcase its gesture recognition technology for Smart-TVs and digital devices at the 2012 International CES  show on January 10-13 in Las Vegas.

For more information, visit http://www.eyesight-tech.com.

About CEVA Inc.

CEVA is the world's leading licensor of silicon intellectual property (SIP) DSP cores and platform solutions for the mobile handset, portable and consumer electronics markets. CEVA's IP portfolio includes comprehensive technologies for cellular baseband (2G / 3G / 4G), multimedia (HD video, Image Signal Processing (ISP) and HD audio), voiceover packet (VoP), Bluetooth, Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) and Serial ATA (SATA).

Today, more than one in every three handsets shipped worldwide is powered by a CEVA DSP core.

For more information, visit http://www.ceva-dsp.com.

About Mitsui & Co. Global Investment

Mitsui Global Investment (MGI) is a subsidiary of Mitsui & Co., Ltd., which invests in opportunities that have potential for growth. Headquartered in Tokyo, the company has offices in Silicon Valley, New York, Shanghai and Beijing and its investments reach beyond these geographical barriers, reflecting a diversified global portfolio.

For more information, visit http://www.mitsui-global.com.

Company contact:
Liat Rostock
Marketing Director
eyeSight Mobile Technologies
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +972-54-4670-162

SOURCE eyeSight Mobile Technologies