Gimv sells its stake in Movea
Gimv is selling its stake in Movea to InvenSense Inc. (NYSE: INVN), the leading provider of intelligent sensor solutions for consumer electronic devices. Gimv entered the French start-up in 2007. Since then, it has become a recognised leader on the data fusion and motion processing technologies market.
In the past seven years, Gimv has been involved in three financing rounds of Movea (www.movea.com) and notably, supported the takeover of the American company Gyration. This transaction enabled Movea to make the switch to consumer electronics, providing it with know-how in consumer products. Having sold Gyration in 2011 to concentrate on its core activity, Movea has become a reference player on the data fusion and motion processing technologies market.
Based in Grenoble (France), Movea was founded in March 2007 as a spin-off of the French research institute CEA-Léti. It develops data fusion and motion processing technologies (firmware, software, IP) for tracking physical/personal activities (sport/keep fit/e-health) and electronic consumer products (smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, etc.). The company transforms data from sensors into intelligible personal information (localisation of user, tracking activity and sensitivity to context). Its technology is protected by over 500 patents and makes it possible to reduce costs and energy consumption of products whilst increasing their precision. Its current partners and customers include: Samsung, STMicroelectronics, Orange, Babolat, Décathlon, Philips, Texas Instruments a.o.
Geoffroy Dubus, Partner at Gimv, comments: "As primary shareholder, we are proud of having supported Movea's success and its positioning on the consumer, mobile and entertainment markets, areas which are expanding."
The sale of Movea has had a positive impact of EUR 5.2 million (EUR 0.21 per share) on Gimv's equity value published on 31 March 2014. Throughout the whole period, this investment generated an IRR higher than Gimv's average IRR. No further financial details will be published about this transaction.
Its takeover by InvenSense Inc. shall enable Movea to complete a new stage in its growth. InvenSense Inc. is the leading provider of intelligent motion and sound sensor solutions for consumer electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, wearables, gaming devices, optical image stabilization, and remote controls for Smart TVs. The company’s MotionTracking™ products are also being integrated into a number of industrial applications. The company’s patented InvenSense Fabrication Platform and patent-pending MotionFusion™ technology address the emerging needs of many mass-market consumer applications via improved performance, accuracy, and intuitive motion-, gesture- and sound-based interfaces.