Gou Lite, an Israeli optical laser company and maker of the Virtual Pen, has picked up $3 million from lead investor DB Venture Partners, the venture capital arm of Deutsche Bank Alex Brown along with ABS Ventures in the US. STI Ventures and Startupfactory previously invested $4 million in Gou Lite. The new funding will be used to further develop the Virtual Pen and facilitate the company’s strategic cooperation with cellular operators and handset manufacturers in Europe, Asia and the US.
The Virtual Pen is an input device designed by IDEO, the company that also designed the Palm V and Visor. It is supported by Bluetooth technology and enables text and signature input as well as full navigation control on any surface. The pen works as a regular writing utensil but for mobile handsets, personal digital assistants, PCs, and interactive televisions.
Gou Lite was founded in 1998 and develops, manufactures, and markets its Optical Translation Measurement (OTM) technology-based products. The company’s technology is able to measure the relative motion between an OTM sensor and a variety of objects moving across its optical aperture using a coherent light source, which is a laser in this case, and a simple optical setup.
“The OTM technology developed and patented by GOU Lite is truly powerful and encompasses a wide range of potential applications,” said Michael Patton, Managing Director and Co-Head of DB Venture Partners, in a statement.
