Tobii Technology, the global leader in eye tracking and gaze interaction, announced today that it has closed a USD $21M funding round. New investor Intel Capital joins existing investors Amadeus Capital, Investor Growth Capital and Northzone Ventures. The funding will be used to continue R&D investments in core technology and to take eye tracking and gaze interaction to mainstream computers and other mass-market applications.
The new funding from Intel Capital will help Tobii to further accelerate the technological evolution and to take the leap into mass-market applications, such as mainstream computers, cars, games and other consumer and professional products. More specifically it will help Tobii to do necessary R&D investments, grow their R&D organization and build new strategic competences.
"Eye Tracking and gaze interaction has the potential to revolutionize computer interaction much the same way touch has changed hand-held devices," said Henrik Eskilsson, CEO at Tobii Technology. "Tobii aims at taking eye tracking from niche markets to mass-market applications, in mainstream computing and automotive applications. This investment will help us to take this leap and to make the technological advancements necessary to maintain a leading position in eye tracking technology."
"Intel Capital believes that eye-tracking could form an important part of Man machine interface. Tobii is a market segment leader in eye-tracking and a leading candidate to enable the latest generation of user-interface technology," said Marcos Battisti, Managing Director for Intel Capital, Western Europe and Israel.
Effective from March 2012, Ian Cooper will be appointed to Tobii's board of directors as the investor representative for Intel Capital. "I am looking forward to working with Tobii to build the leader in consumer-focused eye-tracking," said Ian Cooper, Investment Director at Intel Capital.
"Eye-gaze tracking holds great promise as a novel method for user/machine interaction. Working closely with Tobii, we hope to bring the benefit of this new technology to personal computing," said Joel Fisch, Director of Business Development at Intel's Architecture Development Group. About Intel Capital Intel Capital, Intel's global investment and M&A organization, makes equity investments in innovative technology start-ups and companies worldwide. Intel Capital invests in a broad range of companies offering hardware, software, and services targeting enterprise, mobility, health, consumer Internet, digital media, semiconductor manufacturing and cleantech. Since 1991, Intel Capital has invested more than US$10.5 billion in over 1,218 companies in 51 countries. In that timeframe, 196 portfolio companies have gone public on various exchanges around the world and 291 were acquired or participated in a merger. In 2011, Intel Capital invested US$526 million in 158 investments with approximately 51 percent of funds invested outside the U.S. and Canada.
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