Imbera Secures USD $15 Million in Series B Funding from NorthZone, Index and Conor

Innovative Company Will Use Funds to Bring High-Volume 3-D IC Packaging Manufacturing Online by Q4 2009

MELBOURNE, Fla. Imbera Electronics, the developer of patented Integrated Module Board (IMB™) technology for 3-D semiconductor packaging, announced that it has secured USD $15 million in series B funding from NorthZone Ventures, Index Ventures and Conor Venture Partners.

The financing will be used to bring online a new high-volume manufacturing operation in Sangsong-ri, South Korea, and to continue Imbera’s embedded technology evolution through its R&D activities located in Espoo, Finland. Production at the new South Korean facility is scheduled to begin in Q4 2009. This will mark the next step for Imbera in developing an end-to-end 3-D packaging solution capable of meeting global market demand.

At the core of Imbera’s innovation is its IMB technology, originally developed in the 1990s as a research project at the Helsinki University of Technology. Traditional electronics have all of the electrical components sitting on top of a printed circuit board (PCB). The board, used merely as a means of interconnection, has a high percentage of unused space and offers little functionality.

Imbera’s IMB technology embeds electronic components directly inside the PCB, making it “smart” by giving the board two functions – interconnectivity and component functionality. This allows both smaller overall size and improved performance and durability – from cell phones and GPS devices to automotive and medical applications – while reducing costs and maximizing circuit board real estate.

The company’s technology presents benefits in all types of electronics manufacturing, from low-cost applications to highly complex multi-chip modules with a high number of electrical contacts.

“Imbera is empowering and freeing designers of electronic products from the technical and space constraints that have limited their visions in the past, especially when looking at the market for small portable devices,” explained Giuseppe Zocco, co-founder and partner of Index Ventures. ”Imbera’s IMB technology provides a viable, production-ready solution to enable manufacturing of new generations of mobile phones and other devices that are smaller, thinner and have better performance.”

“Imbera has progressed rapidly since we first invested in 2007,” said Bjørn Stray, general partner in NorthZone Ventures. “As one of the lead investors in this round of financing, we look forward to continued growth as we deliver the groundbreaking IMB solution to customers through the planned manufacturing facility that we own together with our JV partner, Daeduck Electronics.”

About Imbera

Imbera Electronics is the developer of novel, patented IMB technology, which enables the integration of both active and passive components inside an organic printed circuit board (PCB) structure. The key advantages of IMB technology are further product miniaturization and improved electrical performance while achieving a competitive manufacturing cost. IMB technology can be combined with existing PCB production processes without extensive development work, enabling fast technology ramp-up and high production quality. For more information, please visit http://www.imbera.biz

About NorthZone Ventures

NorthZone Ventures is a European venture capital partnership with a Nordic stronghold. With eight dedicated partners in Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen – most of whom are themselves former successful, serial entrepreneurs – NorthZone works to help its portfolio companies succeed in their world markets. Founded in 1994, NorthZone has raised and managed five different funds with consistent top-tier returns and currently manages EUR 355 million. Among its previous investments are Lastminute, Stepstone, Pricerunner and NextGenTel. For more information, please visit www.northzone.com

About Index Ventures

Index Ventures is a leading European venture capital firm active in investing since 1996. The firm is dedicated to investing in disruptive technologies and helping strong entrepreneurial teams in the information technology, life science and clean tech sectors build their companies into market-defining global leaders. Index Ventures has offices in Geneva, London and Jersey and invests across Europe, Israel and the US. Current investments include Telegent Systems, Rightscale and Virtuallogix. Previous investments include MySQL (Sun), Skype (eBay), SCM Microsystems (NASDAQ:SCMM – News) and Conexant (NASDAQ:CNXT – News). For more information, please visit www.indexventures.com

About Conor Venture Partners

Conor Venture Partners is a leading early-stage technology VC investing in Finland, Sweden and the Baltics. Conor invests in disruptive technologies in ICT, embedded systems, electronics, new materials and optics. For more information, please visit www.conor.vc

Source: Imbera Electronics