View, Inc.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
View, Inc.
TypePrivate (2007-2021)
Public (since 2021)
Nasdaq: VIEW
IndustrySmart glass, Smart Building Solutions
Founded2007
FounderPaul Nguyen & Mike Scobey
Headquarters
Milpitas, California
,
United States
Key people
Rao Mulpuri (CEO)
Websitewww.view.com

View, Inc. is an American glass-manufacturing company that produces a smart glass based on electrochromism.

Founded in 2007, the company is headquartered in Milpitas, California with a manufacturing facility in Olive Branch, Mississippi.

History[]

The company was co-founded in April 2007 by Paul Nguyen and Mike Scobey as eChromics,[1] Based in Santa Rosa, California .[2]: 4  The company was renamed Soladigm in October 2007,[2]: 4  and appointed Rao Mulpuri as CEO in December 2008.[3][4] The firm moved headquarters to Milpitas, California in a reconditioned Seagate Technology factory.[5]

In July 2010, the company announced its intent to start production from a new facility in Olive Branch, Mississippi.[6] The same year, it was one of 12 winners of General Electric's $200 million "Ecomagination Challenge."[7] It received a $3.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.[8]

The company name was changed to View, Inc. in November 2012,[9] and began shipping from its new factory near the end of the third quarter of 2012.[10] In 2015, installing the glass at the new Overstock headquarters in Salt Lake City.[11]

In 2013, Corning led an investment round of $60 million for View.[5] Madrone Capital Partners invested $100 million in the company in January 2014.[3] The company received $150 million in late-stage funding in 2015. Funding was led by the New Zealand Super Fund.[12] In 2019, the OAA installed View Dynamic Glass at its headquarters.[13]

Funding[]

In 2007, the company raised a Series A round of funding from Sigma Partners and Khosla Ventures, which later took over control of the company and received preferred shares.[2]: 5–6  Prior to the company's name change, Soladigm was awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for $3.5 million, derived from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.[14]

In 2013, Corning led an investment round of $60 million for View.[5] Madrone Capital Partners invested $100 million in the company in January 2014.[3] The company received $150 million in late-stage funding in 2015. Funding was led by the New Zealand Super Fund.[12]

In June 2017, BlackRock led a $200 million investment in View, bringing total funding for the company to $700 million.[15]

In 2018, View, Inc. announced a $1.1 Billion investment from the SoftBank Vision Fund.[16]

Products and technology[]

The company's product, View Dynamic Glass, is glass with an electrochromic (EC) coating consisting of multiple layers of ceramic metal oxide with a thickness of 1 micron.[17] Low voltage wiring is added so the tint of the glass can be controlled through an app or centralized software system in response to weather or interior temperature.[18][3] When the low-voltage direct current electrical signal is activated, the layer of materials in the insulating glass changes from transparent to up to 99% tinted for visible wavelengths.[19] [20]

The technology is designed to allow natural light to enter buildings while deflecting glare and infrared radiation when tinted.[3][21] Each window pane adjusts its tint throughout the day, and has its own IP address allowing the windows to be controlled from an app.[22][23] The intensity of the tint can be adjusted to control glare, direct sunlight coming in, and to modify privacy.[24]

By 2016, the company made panels that could be retrofitted as well as panels based on builders' specifications.[18]

In 2018, the firm partnered with Microsoft Azure IoT to develop a physical security system that notifies building managers when glass breaks.[25][26]

Litigation[]

In January 2009, Nguyen was removed as CTO and fired the next month.[2]: 7  He filed the suit against the company in January 2010,[2]: 7–13  seeking to invalidate rounds of financing by the company and challenging his firing as a violation of the company's certificate of incorporate and voting agreement.[27] The parties agreed to arbitration, and in December 2015, the arbitrator ruled in Nguyen's favor, which, as the judge in subsequent litigation said, "essentially blew up View’s extant capital structure".[2]: 13 [28][2]: 30 [28][29]

In Feb 2018, litigation reached a settlement after investor challenge,[30] securing the company's capital structure; a proposal to amend Delaware's corporate law emerged from the difficult facts of the case.[31]

In December 2012, SAGE Electrochromics filed a patent infringement suit against View; View counter-sued a few months later.[32]

References[]

  1. ^ "Venture funding tumbles in Sonoma County". Santa Rosa Press Democrat. 2009-04-24. Retrieved 2018-08-27.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "C.A. No. 11138-VCS: Paul Nguyen v. View". Chancery Court of Delaware. June 6, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e "View soaks up $100M to make your windows smarter — and more environmentally friendly | VentureBeat". venturebeat.com. 7 January 2014. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
  4. ^ Haggin, Patience (2017-08-11). "The Secret to Startup Success? Fudge Your Age". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
  5. ^ a b c Noglows, Paul. "How View Is Reinventing Your Windows". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
  6. ^ "Soladigm, Milpitas company that makes 'smart windows,' to build new factory". The Mercury News. 2010-07-29. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
  7. ^ Kolodny, Lora (16 November 2010). "GE Invests In Makers of Solar-Powered Air Conditioners, And Eleven Others". Tech Crunch. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  8. ^ "Berkeley Lab Technology Spawns Successful Start-up Companies". Energy.gov. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  9. ^ "Soladigm, Milpitas company that makes 'smart windows,' to build new factory". The Mercury News. 2010-07-29. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
  10. ^ Wang, Ucilia. "A Startup Shows Off 'Smart Windows' In San Francisco Hotel". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
  11. ^ Herald, Karissa Neely Daily. "View Dynamic Glass: Utah office buildings opting for wise windows". Daily Herald. Retrieved 2018-06-03.
  12. ^ a b Tilley, Aaron (13 August 2015). "Smart Window Maker View Raises $150 Million". Forbes. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  13. ^ "The OAA Wraps Up Headquarters Building Renewal". Canadian Architect. 2019-10-18. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
  14. ^ "Berkeley Lab Technology Spawns Successful Start-up Companies". AZoNano.com. 2010-10-12. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
  15. ^ Stangel, Luke (June 27, 2017). "Milpitas 'smart glass' startup raises $200M to take on the real estate world". Silicon Valley Business Journal.
  16. ^ "Saudi-Backed Vision Fund Invests $1.1 Billion in a Maker of 'Smart Window' Glass". Bloomberg.com. 2018-11-02. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
  17. ^ Cronin, J. P. (2004), Aegerter, Michel A.; Mennig, Martin (eds.), "Electrochromic Coatings", Sol-Gel Technologies for Glass Producers and Users, Springer US, pp. 261–269, doi:10.1007/978-0-387-88953-5_34, ISBN 978-0-387-88953-5, retrieved 2020-01-24
  18. ^ a b Swartz, Jon (April 27, 2016). "High-tech brings its smarts to buildings". USA Today.
  19. ^ "Regeneron goes high-tech with 'smart' windows". DV Plus - Westchester Business Journal Daily Voice. 2019-07-31. Archived from the original on 2019-08-06. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
  20. ^ https://view.com/sites/default/files/documents/igu-data-sheet-us.pdf
  21. ^ Wang, Ucilia (2011-02-15). "Soladigm Closes $40M for Its First Smart Window Factory". Reuters. Retrieved 2012-05-02.
  22. ^ Riski, Tess (23 July 2019). "New Smart Glass Cuts Glare, Alerts Police if There's a Break-In". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2019-07-25.
  23. ^ "Your Next Office Window Could Come With an IP Address". Cheddar. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
  24. ^ "Regeneron goes high-tech with 'smart' windows". DV Plus - Westchester Business Journal Daily Voice. 2019-07-31. Archived from the original on 2019-08-06. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
  25. ^ "Microsoft Azure IoT". Microsoft.
  26. ^ Dignan, Larry. "Building windows powered by algorithms: View launches SmartProtect, an IoT security system for smart windows | ZDNet". ZDNet. Retrieved 2018-11-14.
  27. ^ "Chancery Court Holds That Stockholder Rejection of Corporate Proposals Are Not Defective Corporate Acts That Can Later Be Ratified". Lexology. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  28. ^ a b "Chancery Clarifies Distinction Between Defective Corporate Acts and Unauthorized Corporate Acts". Delaware Corporate & Commercial Litigation Blog. 8 June 2017.
  29. ^ "Issue Thirteen: Chancery Court Clarifies Difference between "Defective" and "Deliberately Unauthorized" Corporate Acts". Goodwin Law Securities Snapshot June 20, 2017. June 20, 2017.
  30. ^ Montgomery, Jeff (February 15, 2018). "View Inc. Fights Investors' Challenge To $60M Settlement". Law360.
  31. ^ Bigler, C. Stephen; Norman, Stephanie M. (Spring 2018). "Proposed Amendments to Section 204 of the Delaware General Corporation Law Resolve Uncertainty Created by the Reasoning in Nguyen v. View, Inc" (PDF). In Our Opinion: The Newsletter of the Legal Opinions Committee, ABA Business Law Section. 17 (3): 16.
  32. ^ "Corning leads $62M investment in 'smart' glass maker View". SPIE Europe. 19 June 2013.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""