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£4m for Eleksen
Article Date: Jan 27 2006
A host of venture capital backers – led by MTI Partners, 3i and Hotbed – have invested an additional £4 million in Pinewood Studios-based Eleksen, a smart fabric developer whose products can be used to control mobile phones, MP3 players and other electronic devices.
Initially developed for Spitting Image puppetry, Eleksen’s technology consists of a flexible touch sensor, which is 0.6mm thick and capable of detecting the position and magnitude of pressures placed on it. This opens the way for electronic devices to be controlled by sensors embedded into jacket sleeves, rucksack straps, etc. Eleksen will use the cash to further expand its development and sales efforts.
Private investor network operator Hotbed provided £1.6 million of the £4 million total, a move long-term Eleksen-backer MTI appears to have been instrumental in. ‘We worked with MTI last year when we invested in Sarantel (another high-tech business, which is now listed on AIM) and they were the link to this current deal,’ explains Hotbed director Claire Madden.
