Cambridge Touch Technologies (CTT), a spin-out of Cambridge University and a provider of pressure sensing (piezoelectric) technology for the consumer electronics, automotive, industrial and military industries, has raised €9 million in a Series B funding round, bringing the total amount raised by the company to nearly €18 million.
The round was led by the Japanese Kureha Corporation, a global supplier of specialty chemicals and plastics including piezoelectric polymer film, along with the Chinese venture capital firm Puhua Capital, the Futaba Corporation, and existing investors including Parkwalk, Downing Ventures, CM Ventures, and Amadeus Capital Partners.
CTT has developed a multi-force-and-touch solution that combines sophisticated algorithms together with advanced materials, called UltraTouch. Its all-in-one sensor architecture can be used in any touch-capable smart device, and solves lingering problems that users experience with touch screens, like being able to use a smartphone properly while out in the rain.
UltraTouch also offers new functionalities, like creating realistic virtual buttons for the interior smart surfaces of cars or using the touch screen of a water-resistant smartphone underwater to capture that unforgettable photo in the pool. UltraTouch can also be used for the ultra-chic ‘buttonless’ style phones and wearables that are increasingly popular, and for the new foldable phones now coming to the market.
This Series B investment will allow the company to continue its planned commercial rollout of UltraTouch technology along with its strategic partners. To meet increasing global demand in the market, the funding will drive expansion of the company’s team at its Cambridge, UK, headquarters, as well as its network of Asia sales and support offices in China and Taiwan.
“We’re delighted to welcome our new corporate and VC investors from Japan and China, as well as having the continued strong support of our existing investors, who together form a world-class group that will help scale CTT quickly to exploit the market opportunity for its technology,” said Corbin Church, CEO and co-founder of Cambridge Touch Technologies. “CTT has grown rapidly over the last several years, and we’re looking forward to being able to continue executing on our growth plan and sharpening our commercialization focus within the consumer electronics, automotive and industrial markets. The partners we have and the injection of new capital means we can expect to enable our customers to begin rolling out the technology at scale in the near future.”
“As the leading global supplier of Piezoelectric film, Kureha Corporation has worked closely with CTT over recent years, bringing our substantial resources and R&D capabilities to our joint collaboration and developing the most advanced piezoelectric film for the touch panel market now and into the future,” said Yutaka Kobayashi, President and CEO of Kureha Corporation.
