Celtic House Venture Partners Leads $7.5 Million Follow-On Investment in
Movidius

TORONTO, May 25 /CNW Telbec/ - Celtic House Venture Partners has led a US$7.5 million Series "B" financing round for Movidius, based in Dublin, Ireland. Movidius is a leading supplier of low-power 3D video processor technology and application software that enable advanced multimedia features on mobile devices. In addition to highest-performance, lowest-cost implementations in 3D video encode and decode, Movidius video processors offer unique editing and post production capabilities for the creation of user-generated content for mobile social networking.

"In Movidius Celtic House immediately recognized a team which had developed disruptive technology that provides solutions that address both operator and OEM needs for greater differentiation of their products and services, especially in the increasingly competitive Smartphone segment," said Celtic House Partner Roger Maggs. "We continue to invest in Movidius because we are confident of its ability to deliver a truly world class technology that will revolutionize the way in which users interact with their mobile handsets in a rapidly growing market."

The financing round will enable Movidius to drive its first products into high volume production and to capitalize on the exploding industry demand for mobile video. In addition, the funding will be used to accelerate an already aggressive product roadmap in response to carrier demand for mobile video applications that rival those found in the mainstream PC market. All of the company's existing investors, including Capital E, Emertec Gestion, and AIB Seed Capital Fund, participated alongside Celtic House.

"This funding reflects the strong leadership role that Celtic House has taken in all strategic and financial aspects of the company's growth," said Sean Mitchell, CEO of Movidius. "Celtic House's network of business relationships and related companies in the consumer electronics sector has served to extend Movidius' market penetration. Their level of involvement is indicative of a very active and committed investor."

In response to the rapid rise of the mobile handset as the preferred device for user-generated content, manufacturers are relentlessly upgrading features and functions. These will include 3D in the near future along with a complete suite of editing and post-production capabilities. Advanced video manipulation suited to a mobile environment in terms of power consumption, cost, and footprint defines the class of processor product that Movidius has brought to market.

"Handset manufacturers around the world are implementing 3D video processor technology from Movidius in their next-generation platforms to redefine the multimedia experience of the end user," said Celtic House Partner Brian Antonen. "Celtic House has built a cluster of companies in key areas of the consumer video market, including connectivity, portability, processing, security, and tuning/demodulation. Synergy among our companies reduces market resistance and improves time-to-revenue. This dramatically lowers the risk of our investment portfolio."

About Movidius

Movidius is a fabless semiconductor company whose technology delivers unique video editing and post-production capabilities for the creation of User Generated Content for mobile social networking. Movidius' video processor hardware and application software is specifically designed to suit low power mobile phone and consumer electronics, enabling handset manufacturers to create highly differentiated products and enhanced user experiences. Movidius has offices in Dublin and Hong Kong, with a substantial software development centre in Romania. For more information on Movidius, visit www.movidius.com.

About Celtic House Venture Partners

For over 15 years, Celtic House Venture Partners has been Canada's most active investor in private information and communications technology companies. Applying the deep domain expertise of its partners and capitalizing on a unique architectural approach to investing, Celtic House has consistently provided superior financial returns to its investors. With $315 million under management, Celtic House has collaborated with management teams and repeat entrepreneurs to develop platform technology companies from the inception phase through to exit, generating over 20 initial public offerings and successful acquisitions. For more information, please visit www.celtic-house.com.

For further information: Media Contact for Celtic House: Tomas Valis, [phone]; Media Contact for Movidius: Sean Mitchell, [phone]