Philips announces first spinout from Incubator Group
Royal Philips Electronics has announced the first spinout from its Technology Incubator group, formed four years ago to transform innovative Philips' technologies into viable business opportunities. Philips' Incubator activity Polymer Vision will become an independent company – Polymer Vision Ltd., focusing on products for the rollable display market. Technology Capital has invested €21 million in the company and will become the major shareholder. Philips will retain a 20% stake in the new company.
The transaction will allow Polymer Vision to push ahead with its commercialization plans to meet strongly growing market demand from the mobile device industry. Volume production of its 5-inch monochrome rollable display will start this year in cooperation with existing partners. The company will continue to operate from its location at the High Tech Campus Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Polymer Vision has developed a rollable electronic-display, the first prototype has proven integration capability in a hand-held mobile device. Ever since, there has been growing market interest in this breakthrough display technology.
The paper-like display can be rolled out to a greater size than the actual device itself. It is easy to read, even in bright sunlight, and has significantly lower power requirements than an LCD display with backlight. Once the user has finished reading, the display can simply be rolled back into the device. This makes the rollable display ideal for mobile applications such as mobile phones, document readers and personal navigation systems.
"With a solid investment partner in Technology Capital and a first-rate team of people in Polymer Vision we can now focus on commercializing the first step of our journey to getting a rollable display into every mobile device." says Karl McGoldrick, CEO of Polymer Vision.
