Microbridge Technologies completes $5.5 million US round of Series B financing

- Microbridge Technologies Corp., a privately held semiconductor technology company announced the closing of its Series B equity financing, raising a total of $5.5 million US in venture capital.

The financing round was led by Zon Capital Partners of Princeton, New Jersey and includes investments by the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) Venture Capital, and Schneider Electric Ventures (SEV) of France, along with the existing seed investors, the Solidarity Fund QFL and Innovatech Montréal. This brings the total investment in Microbridge to date to $7.5 million US. The funds will be used for sales and marketing ramp up, product production ramp up and the next stage of technology development.

“Microbridge changes the game in the pervasive need for adjustable resistance and temperature compensation in electronics and integrated circuits. We are enthusiastic about the growth potential of this promising business.”  William Bridgers, Partner, Zon Capital Partners.

“We are pleased to see that our initial investment in Microbridge was sound. Our confidence in the company’s innovative products and talented team has been validated by new investors joining Innovatech to financially secure Microbridge’s future.” Pierre Coutou, Vice-President, Innovatech Montréal.

“The RejustorTM with electronic Temperature Compensation (eTCTM) is a breakthrough for the sensor and micro-electronic markets.” said Jean-Marc Bally, Partner, Schneider Electric Ventures.  “What sets the technology apart from the alternatives is the combination of analog electronic resistive trimming and truly adjustable temperature compensation capability.”  

“The addition of Zon Capital, BDC and SEV to our existing Quebec based seed investors brings Microbridge a solid international venture capital and business experience base.” said Michael Foster, President and CEO of Microbridge. “We look forward to working with our venture partner group in building a world class technology company.”

About Microbridge Technologies

Microbridge Technologies Corp. specializes in solutions for sensor and micro-electronics companies who are dissatisfied with their current adjustment and trimming alternatives and could benefit from added device or circuit temperature compensation. RejustorsTM with eTCTM, from Microbridge, is a breakthrough category of integration ready, passive analog electronic adjustment technology with the advantage of temperature compensation capability, unlike the current alternatives of digital and analog potentiometers and laser trimming, and without the power dissipation, cost and application limitations of digital compensation. For further information please visit www.microbridgetech.com or www.rejustors.com.

About Investors :

Zon Capital Partners
Zon Capital invests in expansion stage software, communications, semiconductor and business services companies. Zon leverages the extensive operating and venture investing experience of the three principals to partner with seasoned entrepreneurs and help them build valuable businesses. Zon Capital is a venture capital fund headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey with offices in Radnor, Pennsylvania. The fund makes initial investments of $1-2 million in companies, primarily located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the US. www.zoncapital.com

BDC Venture Capital
BDC Venture Capital is a major venture capital investor in Canada, active at every stage of the company’s development cycle, from seed through expansion, with a focus on technology-based businesses that have high growth potential and that are positioned to become dominant players in their markets.  BDC Venture Capital has been involved in venture capital since 1975 and has to date invested in more than 400 different companies. It currently manages approximately $550 million in venture capital assets invested in the areas of Life Sciences, Telecommunications, Information Technology, Advanced Technologies and Funds Investments. (www.bdc.ca)

Schneider Electric Ventures
Schneider Electric Ventures is a Venture Capital company created in 2000 to manage a 50 M€ International Venture Fund focused on emerging technologies and sponsored by Schneider Electric Industries SAS. The fund is aiming at financing outstanding innovative companies from early to development stage in France, Europe and North America in technologies which will be at the back of innovative products in the future. Three sectors are targeted by the fund:

• Emerging Technologies in three main fields: Communication, Micro-generation of electricity and Sensors,
• Enabling Technologies such as MEMS, Nanotechnologies and Opto-electronics,
• New Services and Networking applications in Building automation, Energy monitoring and Industry.

Over the last 4 years, Schneider Electric Ventures has backed 18 companies. (www.schneider-electric-ventures.com)

Solidarity Fund QFL
With assets of over $5.5 billion, the Solidarity Fund QFL is a development capital fund that through its RRSP channels the savings of Quebecers to help create and maintain jobs in companies and contribute to the economic development of Québec. The Fund currently has over 555,000 shareholders and has helped, either on its own or with other financial partners, create maintain and support over 96,000 jobs. For more information, visit www.fondsftq.com.

Innovatech Montréal
Founded in 1992, Innovatech Montréal was one of Québec’s first venture capital companies dedicated to technological innovation, and ranks among the most experienced in Canada. Today, Innovatech Montréal manages a $350-million portfolio, and primarily targets three strategic sectors: Health Sciences; Advanced Technology and Telecommunications; and Information Technology.  With more than 220 investments and 80 divestitures to its credit, Innovatech Montréal is both a pioneer in innovation financing and one of Canada’s leaders in venture capital.  Innovatech Montréal is an equity-based company whose shares are held by the government of Québec. (www.innovatech.qc.ca)