HaptX Closes $23 Million Strategic Funding Round Led by AIS Global and Crescent Cove Advisors

New investment will accelerate commercialization of HaptX's next-generation product suite

REDMOND, Wash., Sept. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- HaptX, the leading innovator and provider of realistic haptic technology, today announced a $23 million strategic funding round led by AIS Global and Crescent Cove Advisors, with participation from Verizon Ventures, Mason Avenue Investments, and Taylor Frigon Capital Partners. This investment brings HaptX's total funding to more than $58 million. Centerview Partners acted as financial advisor to HaptX.

The proceeds from this round will be used to fund commercialization of next-generation products building on the success of HaptX's award-winning HaptX Gloves DK2. Unlike other haptic gloves which are limited to vibration and force feedback, HaptX Gloves physically displace the user's skin the way a real object would. They deliver unprecedented realism, with more than 130 points of tactile feedback per hand. Fortune 500 companies and governments around the world have adopted HaptX Gloves for the most demanding applications in training and simulation, industrial design, and robotics.

In conjunction with this transaction, HaptX has extended its partnership with AIS Global, a portfolio company of New York-based KPS Capital Partners.

"HaptX and AIS Global have built a deep, successful relationship dedicated to innovation at the cutting edge of the high-growth global haptics market," said Joe Baddeley, Chief Executive Officer of AIS Global. "AIS Global and KPS are thrilled to provide the resources, commitment, and expertise necessary to support aggressive scaling of HaptX's commercial footprint."

Crescent Cove Advisors, based in San Francisco, substantially increased its investment in HaptX in this funding round after providing a $4 million credit facility to HaptX in 2021. 

"HaptX has succeeded in generating tremendous customer demand across a wide array of use cases," said Jun Hong Heng, Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Crescent Cove Advisors. "We believe HaptX will play a foundational role in fulfilling the promise of the Metaverse as an immersive 3D successor to today's 2D internet."

"We are proud to have the commitment of partners like AIS Global and Crescent Cove fueling our efforts to build haptics so lifelike that users can't distinguish between the virtual and the real," said Jake Rubin, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of HaptX.  "This funding will enable HaptX to build on the success of HaptX Gloves DK2 with exciting new products that will redefine virtual and robotic interactions."

HaptX builds technology that simulates touch sensation with unprecedented realism. HaptX Gloves enable natural interaction and true-contact haptics in virtual reality and robotics for the first time. A venture-backed startup, HaptX is headquartered in Redmond, WA, with offices in San Luis Obispo and San Francisco, CA. Learn more at www.haptx.com.

AIS Global is a leading global designer and manufacturer of innovative human-machine experience ("HMX") solutions for original equipment manufacturers worldwide in the medical, commercial, industrial and gaming end-markets. Headquartered in Coeur d'Alene, ID, AIS Global has seven facilities across the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Taiwan, and China, including four key manufacturing facilities. For more information, visit www.advancedinput.com.

Crescent Cove is a multi-asset investment firm focused on technology investments and dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs and founders. Established in 2016, Crescent Cove leverages its global network of relationships and unique insight across markets, emerging industries and technologies to build businesses and accelerate value creation across its portfolios. For more information, visit www.crescentcove.com.

KPS, through its affiliated management entities, is the manager of the KPS Special Situations Funds, a family of investment funds with approximately $13.6 billion of assets under management (as of June 30, 2022). For over three decades, the Partners of KPS have worked exclusively to realize significant capital appreciation by making controlling equity investments in manufacturing and industrial companies across a diverse array of industries, including basic materials, branded consumer, healthcare and luxury products, automotive parts, capital equipment and general manufacturing. KPS creates value for its investors by working constructively with talented management teams to make businesses better, and generates investment returns by structurally improving the strategic position, competitiveness and profitability of its portfolio companies, rather than primarily relying on financial leverage. The KPS Funds' portfolio companies currently generate aggregate annual revenues of approximately $19.7 billion, operate 233 manufacturing facilities in 27 countries, and have approximately 52,000 employees, directly and through joint ventures worldwide (as of March 31, 2022, pro forma for recent acquisitions and exits). The KPS investment strategy and portfolio companies are described in detail at www.kpsfund.com.

KPS Mid-Cap focuses on investments in the lower end of the middle market that require up to $100 million of initial equity capital. KPS Mid-Cap targets the same type of investment opportunities and utilizes the same investment strategy that KPS' flagship funds have for nearly three decades. KPS Mid-Cap leverages and benefits from KPS' global platform, reputation, track record, infrastructure, best practices, knowledge and experience. The KPS Mid-Cap investment team is managed by Partners Pierre de Villeméjane and Ryan Harrison, who lead a team of experienced and talented professionals.

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SOURCE HaptX Inc