21 March 2005
21 March 2005
New Venture Partners closes venturing deal with Philips Research and launches
new business
New Venture Partners (NVP), the corporate venturing firm, today announced that it had closed
a partnership deal with Philips Research, the research business of Philips Electronics Nederland
B.V, Europe’s largest electronics company, to identify and create spin-off businesses
based on technology from Philips Research’s global network of laboratories.
Under the partnership, NVP will carry out end-to-end internal-venture development through
spin-off and guidance of new ventures. Also announced today is the first business to be developed
under the partnership. This business is based on Philips’ electrowetting technology
for vastly improved display screens for mobile applications such as PDAs, mobile phones and
video cameras.
NVP’s corporate venturing model is becoming increasingly important to R&D laboratories
worldwide where the potential for extracting much more value from research is just being
recognised. Under this exclusive relationship with NVP, that makes NVP the primary route
for venture-backed spin offs from Philips Research, Philips will provide NVP with access
to its researchers and their inventions, and the ability to grow and spin-off ventures based
on Philips research. NVP will provide the funds needed to develop the ventures whilst growing
them inside Philips prior to wider venture financing. NVP will open an office at the High
Tech Campus Eindhoven, complementing Philips’ strategy of opening the site to third
parties.
The electrowetting venture will commercialise technology for highly reflective, full-colour,
full-video displays. Electrowetting is a novel application of well-known and basic materials;
no exotic material science is required. In contrast to traditional displays, an electrowetting
display is dramatically brighter whilst consuming less power, features
that are critical for mobile devices such as mobile phones, digital cameras, and video cameras
which are used outdoors as well as indoors. These initially targeted market segments represent
a multi-billion dollar annual revenue opportunity.
The partnership with NVP will benefit Philips by creating value from innovations that Philips
determines not to pursue as part of the company’s business strategy, product portfolio,
or distribution channels. The partnership will provide Philips with a tool to create and
manage spin-off ventures and to realise value from many more technologies than previously
possible while maintaining corporate focus on its primary markets and objectives.
NVP has a similar partnership with British Telecommunications plc (BT), which gives it
exclusive rights to technology-based BT venture spin-outs. To date that partnership has resulted
in the creation of new ventures that include: Azure Solutions Ltd., Vidus Ltd. (acquired
by NASDAQ-listed @Road), Evolved Networks Ltd, Psytechnics and iO based in the UK and Microwave
Photonics Inc based in California. Its partnership with Lucent has borne a range of successful
spin-outs including: iBiquity Digital, Flarion, Vallent (formerly Watchmark-Comnitel), LPSS
(now Intrado), Celiant (now part of Andrew Corp.) and Internet Photonics (now part of Ciena).
“In research you need to have a long-term planning in creating and developing new
technologies in anticipation of future trends and applications, which in due time may fall
outside of the scope of Philips strategy,” says Rick Harwig, CEO of Philips Research “Together
with NVP we will be able to commercialise these promising technologies and turn them into
viable businesses for the benefit of Philips and our innovation eco-system.”
Andrew Garman, managing partner of NVP, said: “NVP is delighted to be associated
with Philips; it has long been a rich source of innovation that has shaped our modern world.
Philips fits perfectly with NVP’s strategy of working with corporate partners to commercialise
their research through the creation of venture-backed technology start-ups.
“We are also pleased to kick off our partnership with a new business based on electrowetting
displays. We believe that this technology has significant potential to be a major force in
the display industry and to return substantial value to Philips through utilisation of an
advanced technology that did not otherwise fit its business strategy. We have already identified
a number of other exciting technologies that are suitable for creating new ventures.”
About New Venture Partners (NVP)
NVP is a venture capital firm recognized as a leader in the field of corporate spin-outs.
Since March 1997, NVP has developed and invested in over 40 portfolio companies that resulted
from the spin-out of technologies from its corporate partners including Lucent/Bell Labs
and British Telecommunications, amongst others. Recent successes include iBiquity Digital,
Flarion, Vallent (formerly Watchmark-Comnitel), LPSS (now Intrado), Celiant (now part of
Andrew Corp.), Internet Photonics (now part of Ciena), Vidus, (now part of @Road) and Azure
Solutions. For further information, see www.nvpllc.com.
Further information
David Pincott/Alex Crawshaw, Pirate Communications, tel: +44 (0)20 7297 3350
alex@piratecomms.com / david@piratecomms.com
Background information on electrowetting technology can be found at:
http://www.research.philips.com/technologies/display/electrowetdisp/index.html
High resolution images can be found at: http://www.research.philips.com/newscenter/pictures/display-electrowetting.html
