Oxford-based Living Optics has closed an oversubscribed $20 million Series A+ round to scale deployment of its hyperspectral camera platform. BRV Capital Management led the financing, which the company says will support its push into the US market.
Three US corporate venture arms joined the round: Lockheed Martin Ventures, Lam Capital (the venture arm of Lam Research) and Applied Ventures (the venture arm of Applied Materials). All three parent companies are also lighthouse customers, and Living Optics will work with each in its own vertical market. GK Goh and the British Business Bank also came in as new investors. Octopus Ventures, Foresight Group and OTIF Ventures returned from earlier rounds. The money also pays for hiring to scale the commercial team.
David J. Lam, who has joined the Living Optics board, said the camera is built from mass-market camera components, which he credits for its price-performance. He named semiconductor manufacturing, energy exploration and human biomarker detection as target applications. BRV's Bryan Kang joins as a board observer.
For quality engineers in fab environments, the more relevant comment came from Kevin Chen, Managing Director of Lam Capital and Corporate Development at Lam Research. He said the cameras can capture information about materials, surfaces and processes, with possible applications in semiconductor manufacturing. Applied Ventures Managing Director YuanPing Huang said Applied Ventures and its ITIC Innovation Fund will explore semiconductor applications in Taiwan's advanced manufacturing ecosystem and globally.
On the defence side, Chris Moran, Vice President and General Manager of Lockheed Martin Ventures, described the platform as delivering new levels of insight in a compact form factor. He said Lockheed Martin supports the company as it scales production for government and commercial customers.
Mark Barry, Senior Investment Director at the British Business Bank, said the bank backs companies aligned with the UK's industrial strategy, particularly in advanced manufacturing and semiconductors. He listed industrial inspection, defence, life sciences and environmental monitoring as areas where the imaging platform could open up new capabilities.
