Corrected: Pixim raises more money for video surveillance chips
A Boost at the Border
March 11, 2008
From: Venture Beat
By: Dean Takahashi
Pixim has been picking away at the market for video surveillance chips for a long time. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company was founded in 1999 to create chips that delivered much better processing power for visual imagery.
VentureBeat has learned that the company has raised more money. (Corrected amount: The company has raised $5.1 million, extending a $15 million round raised in 2007 from current investors: Mayfield Fund in Menlo Park and Tallwood Venture Capital in Palo Alto. (The $5.1 million investment has closed and the company is not seeking more money).
Pixim came up with a way to create pictures with high-dynamic range, where the camera can make out both the dark and bright details in a high-contrast photo. It works great for security cameras that are positioned in areas where there is both bright sunlight and deep shadows.
Just about every maker of security cameras has embraced Pixim’s Orca chip set because it’s easier to make out the faces of people in security images thanks to the technology. The company competed against in-house chips of major companies such as Sony, but fewer of those companies are still relying on internal design teams.
Customers shipping Pixim chip sets in their security cameras include: GE Security, Honeywell, JVC, and Siemens. The most recent round raised by Pixim was $15 million in March 2007. John Monti, vice president of marketing and business development, said the new money will help deal with capital needs related to unexpected revenue growth. The company has raised $93.7 million since 1999.
