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Santa Barbara, CA, 26 January 2005
Innovative Micro Technology, a leading manufacturer
of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), announced today that
it has raised $17 Million in institutional venture capital. IMT
will use the investment to expand its facilities and tool set as
it ramps into production on multiple customer programs. Funds will
also be directed at expansion of IMT's sales and marketing efforts,
specifically targeting new technology partnerships with industry
leaders. The round was led by Investor Growth Capital Ltd, with
significant participation from BA Venture Partners and Miramar Venture
Partners. In conjunction with the financing, Jose Suarez from Investor
Growth Capital and Eric Sigler from BA Venture Partners will join
IMT's board of directors. Also joining IMT's Board will be Barry
Waite, former President and CEO of Chartered Semiconductor and a
senior advisor to IGC. WR Hambrecht + Co acted as financial advisor
to IMT.
"This investment provides IMT with a solid
foundation for growth and we believe clearly establishes IMT as
the leading independent MEMS manufacturing partner in the U.S.,"
said CEO, John Foster. "Although we have been growing our business
steadily since our founding in January 2000, this investment allows
us to accelerate that growth in a variety of ways, including the
acquisition of new tools for additional capacity to better serve
our existing customers, and increasing our efforts to obtain new
corporate accounts and partnerships. We are obviously very pleased
to have such a strong investor group."
Commented Jose Suarez of Investor Growth Capital,
"We've been very impressed with IMT's rise in the MEMS business,
and this infusion of capital should allow the Company to ramp to
the next level of high volume production for a variety of customers."
"IMT's large and diverse customer base indicates
its products are filling a real need in the marketplace," said
Eric Sigler, Director at BA Venture Partners. "The MEMS manufacturing
market has matured to a point where an independent company can sustain
itself, and IMT's deep market traction puts the Company in the best
position to emerge as the leader in this developing industry."
Added Heiner Sussner of Miramar Venture Partners,
"IMT has clearly made impressive progress in developing their
business. We at Miramar are looking forward to working closely with
John Foster and his team to further expand IMT's technical capabilities
and continue building a world-class organization."
About Innovative Micro Technology
Formed in 2000, Innovative Micro Technology (IMT) is a leading MEMS
manufacturing partner with a diversified range of projects and products.
IMT's overriding goal is to partner with companies to develop and
manufacture products based on MEMS technology. The company was built
for high-volume manufacturing and its 130,000 sq ft facility contains
a 30,000 sq ft clean room/fab, the largest and best-equipped independent
MEMS fab in the world. The management team has over 100 years of
combined experience in high-technology manufacturing. IMT currently
has 93 employees and 21 customers in diverse applications, including
drug discovery, drug delivery, biomedical implants and cell purifiers,
microfluidics, inertial navigation, optical telecommunications,
printing, various sensors, night vision, IR emitters, telephone/DSL
switching, RF devices, power management, and others. Capabilities
include design for manufacturability, extensive prototyping and
high-volume manufacturing experience, 6" wafer efficiency,
sub-micron photolithography, extensive materials flexibility, and
unmatched metrology tools and experience. IMT also offers various
types of wafer bonding for micro-fluidics and wafer-level encapsulation.
IMT's staff includes specialists in all areas of MEMS manufacturing.
For additional information, please visit www.imtmems.com
or contact Monte Heaton at monte@imtmems.com.
About Investor Growth Capital, Inc. and Investor
AB
Investor Growth Capital (IGC) - www.investorgrowthcapital.com -
is a venture capital and private equity advisory group wholly owned
by Investor AB of Sweden with offices in North America, Europe and
Asia. IGC actively invests in technology and healthcare companies.
IGC accesses Investor AB's extensive global network of companies
and senior managers to assist in the growth and development of its
portfolio companies. Investor AB is a shareholder in a number of
global public companies such as ABB, Astra Zeneca, Atlas Copco,
Electrolux, Ericsson, Gambro, OMX, Saab AB, Scania, SEB and WM-data.
The portfolio consists of 100 new investments and a number of other
holdings including investment in the 3G mobile operator Hi3G. The
company has a diversified portfolio of holdings in the following
sectors: Healthcare, Technology, Engineering, and Financial Services.
More information can be found at: www.investorab.com.
About BA Venture Partners
BA Venture Partners is a multi-stage, market-driven venture capital
partnership that combines the specialized expertise and management
support that today's companies need to quickly generate business
momentum. Its partners offer extensive industry experience and resources
in software, hardware, biotechnology and medical devices. Recent
liquidity events include Citrix's acquisition of Net6, Microsoft's
acquisition of PlaceWare, Checkpoint's acquisition of Zone Labs,
and Silicon Labs' acquisition of Cygnal in addition to the initial
public offerings of Monolithic Power Systems, VNUS, Acusphere and
Dynavax. For more information, please visit www.baventurepartners.com
or call 650-378-6000.
About Miramar Venture Partners
Miramar Venture Partners is a venture fund that invests in early-stage
information technology companies, focusing on Southern California
opportunities. Formed in 2001, Miramar has made investments in leading
emerging growth companies in semiconductors, enterprise networks,
telecom, data storage and software. Applying the extensive technological
and business experience of its partners in working with emerging
companies, Miramar takes a hands-on, teamwork approach to support
entrepreneurs in building successful technology companies. More
information about Miramar Venture Partners can be found at www.miramarvp.com.
In this release, the words "believe,"
"estimate," "anticipate," "expect,"
"intend," "plan" and similar expressions identify
forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements
speak only as of the date hereof. All of the forward-looking statements
are based on estimates and assumptions made by management of the
Company, which, although believed to be reasonable, are inherently
uncertain and difficult to predict. Therefore, undue reliance should
not be placed upon such estimates. Such statements are subject to
certain risks and uncertainties inherent in the Company's business
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
projected. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited
to, those discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-KSB
and our other documents filed with the SEC, and, the following:
the Company's ability to make the transition to volume production
of MEMS products; the Company's history of losses and bankruptcy;
changing technology; competition; the company's ability to protect
intellectual property; fluctuations in the Company's quarterly and
annual operating results; lack of an active trading market; risks
related to international transactions; environmental laws and regulations;
supplies of raw materials; anti-takeover provisions of the Company's
charter and Delaware law; and general economic and political uncertainty.
The Company does not assume any obligation to update or correct
forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or actual
results.
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