Russian billionaire and Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich has invested $2 million in pipe inspection company AcousticEye. The company develops non-traversing tube and pipe inspection for the global NDT (non-destructive testing) market.
The funding will be used to accelerate product development, deployment and sales, and follows a recent $7 million round completed in December, 2013. Founded in 2005 in Tel Aviv by its President Tal Pachter, a former Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) (TASE: ARSP.B1) executive and Operations Manager Dr. Noam Amir, the company has raised equity financing from leading firms and select private investors who are experts in the field including Sequoia Capital and Israel Cleantech Ventures.
Sequoia Capital Partner Gil Raanan said: “This investment is yet another market endorsement of the unique value proposition that the company offers for the multi-billion dollar NDT inspection service market worldwide. AcousticEye technology is used by major oil and gas and power generation companies to significantly improve their operational efficiency.”
AcousticEye CEO Yoav Harel said, “We appreciate very much Mr. Abramovich’s decision to join our other investors in funding our growth. It further validates the tremendous value that AcousticEye offers to the energy sector and confirms the significance of our core technology and R&D capabilities."
This is Abramovich's second investment in an Israeli start-up after he recently invested $10 million in nanotechnology smartphone battery developer StoreDot.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 3, 2014
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