Press Release

Stealth Mode Camera Company Pelican Imaging Thinking Big with $7M Series A

October 13, 2009 | Dow Jones VentureWire

Mountain View, Calif. – Pelican Imaging Corp. is staying quiet about how its software-based camera for mobile phones will achieve better performance than what consumers are accustomed to, but it says a $7 million Series A round will help it complete a prototype.

The stealthy company, based in Mountain View, Calif., raised its first funding from InterWest Partners and Granite Ventures in July.

Chief Executive Aman Jabbi said the company is currently building a prototype, standalone camera to raise the bar for mobile phones. He declined to give details on exactly how the company will accomplish this.

"It's a fundamental shift in architecture," Jabbi said. "All of the camera processing is done in software.

"The company's "special sauce" is a patented technology, he said, declining to give further information.

While the company is building a standalone camera module, Pelican Imaging imagines selling the software inside the device to various equipment makers. The company is not expecting to go into the business of selling actual cameras, the CEO said.

Founded last year, the 10-employee company survived without funding until raising its Series A round over the summer, Jabbi said. The round will help the company finish its prototype, he said.

Camera and other photography applications have become popular since the launch of Apple Inc.'s iPhone and other smartphones. Jabbi said Pelican Imaging will raise the quality bar for mobile photography, for both image quality and camera performance.

Valuation and revenue information were not disclosed.

Timothy Hay, Reporter / Dow Jones VentureWire / (415) 439-6625 / timothy.hay@dowjones.com