The University of Florida’s newly established venture fund, directed by UF Innovate | Ventures, has closed an investment in Mattrix Technologies. Repeat investor JSR Corporation is leading the $3M series A1 financing, which will support the joint development of production-ready materials for a new class of video display technology that promises to bring the true-to-life viewing experience of ultra-premium OLED products to everyday consumers.
Mattrix’s award-winning pixel technology, invented in Dr. Andrew Rinzler’s lab at UF, will allow manufacturers to repurpose aging LCD factories to instead produce higher-margin, premium OLED products while saving hundreds of millions of dollars in new capital costs.
“The intent of the venture fund was to help UF startups reach their full potential. We join Mattrix’s investment team as a following investor,” said Jim O’Connell, director of UF Innovate, the umbrella organization over Ventures and the other departments that provide an entire economic ecosystem for innovators and entrepreneurs. “Our hope is to highlight the work our faculty do, show UF’s commitment to the company’s success, and attract larger investors.”
Current investors in Mattrix Technologies also include Samsung Venture Investment Corporation (“Samsung Ventures”), the global investment arm of the Samsung Group, and JSR Corporation, a leading display materials supplier and innovator in global technology markets. Mattrix is now targeting local institutional investors for the remaining $1.25M to close this round. Collaborative partners interested in investing or licensing the company’s technology for commercialization should contact the CEO, Max Lemaitre.
“We are very excited to have Mattrix as one of our first portfolio companies. Their technology can truly revolutionize the flat-panel display industry,” said Jackson Streeter, M.D., director of UF Innovate | Ventures.
For its novel technology, Mattrix has exclusively licensed 16 U.S. patents from UF, with more than 35 claims and filings in Europe, Korea, China, and Japan. Mattrix is also a resident client of the University of Florida’s internationally recognized, award-winning business incubator, UF Innovate | The Hub.
“Mattrix is the type of company that can truly benefit from business incubation; it has a progressive technology; young, aggressive management; and a terrific staff,” said Mark Long, director of incubation services at UF. “Mattrix is taking full advantage of what The Hub has to offer: laboratories, collaborating, and networking. The company will grow fast and be
a terrific win for Gainesville!”
“We are thrilled to have the University of Florida in our corner,” said Max Lemaitre, CEO of Mattrix Technologies. “We hope to be a positive example of how support for local start-up communities can pay dividends for university research in the long term.”
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