FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Geomagic Closes on $5 Million in Venture Funding
Franklin Street/Fairview Capital sees big potential in innovative 3D software company
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., April 7, 1999 - Geomagic, Inc., the software company that introduces simplicity and automation to 3D model creation, today announced the closing of a $5-million investment by Franklin Street/Fairview Capital. A condition of the investment is that Paul Rizzo, who is chairman of Franklin Street Partners and a general partner of Franklin Street/Fairview Capital, is to represent the fund on Geomagic's Board of Directors (see today's related announcement, "Geomagic Adds Paul Rizzo to Board of Directors"). The investment by Franklin Street/Fairview Capital will enable Geomagic to develop a broad market for the product line and continue their technology development.
"This relationship brings more than capital," said Jon Fjeld, Geomagic president and CEO. "Franklin Street/Fairview can be of great help to us formulating business strategy and building relationships with strategic partners. We intend to use this investment to launch a major sales and marketing campaign as well as to expand research and development."
Geomagic's 3D modeling software provides the long sought-after solution to automatic surface reconstruction from scan data. The company's products are based on a fundamental technology developed during 15 years of research in discrete mathematics and computation. Although the technology is complex, Geomagic introduces simplicity to 3D modeling because the user starts with a physical model instead of trying to capture design intent with a drawing package. With Geomagic's technology, it is now economically feasible to use 3D modeling software in industries where the production quality representation of intricate shape information is of critical importance.
Geomagic was founded in 1996 by Herbert Edelsbrunner and Ping Fu. Edelsbrunner is world renowned for his research in computational geometry and topology. He is the only computer scientist to have won the prestigious Alan T. Waterman Award from the National Science Foundation. Ping Fu is chairman and chief technical officer of Geomagic. Prior to founding the company, she was involved in two successful technology start-ups. Her other achievements include initiating NCSA Mosaic, developing the graphics for the movie, Terminator II, and deploying the first supercomputer in Hong Kong. Jon Fjeld, the company's president and CEO, is a respected high-tech executive, held several high-level positions during his 12-year career at IBM and was president and CEO of NetEdge Systems.
Franklin Street/Fairview Capital, based in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina, was formed in November of 1996 when the principals of Franklin Street Partners, a Chapel Hill financial services firm, and Fairview Capital, L.L.C., a Raleigh private investment company, combined to pursue private investment opportunities. The principals of Franklin Street/Fairview Capital have an extraordinary track record of success in a wide range of endeavors, including major corporate management; mergers and acquisitions; entrepreneurship; large-scale asset management; and identifying, structuring, managing, and liquidating private investments. Franklin Street/Fairview Capital controls three specific private investment pools totaling just under $70 million.
Geomagic, Inc. is a 3D software company dedicated to developing the most technologically advanced and cost-effective solutions for the automatic creation of production-quality digital 3D models from existing objects. The company's technology makes it possible for corporations in a variety of industries to reengineer their business processes by enabling the implementation of Template Based Design and Digital Inventories. The result is more efficient design and production, better quality products, tremendous cost savings, and a higher level of competitiveness. In the longer term, Geomagic envisions the use of their technology as the underlying software that will make 3D appliances such as 3D printers, 3D copiers, and 3D fax machines as commonplace as 2D printers, copiers, and faxes are today. Geomagic was founded in 1996, is privately funded, and is headquartered in Research Triangle Park, NC.
Editor's note: In a related announcement, the company announced the appointment of a new board member today, see "Geomagic Adds Paul Rizzo to Board of Directors."
Media contacts: Bob Cramblitt, Jill Aitoro |