Optosecurity detects $1.9 Million in first financing round

QUEBEC CITY, Quebec--Optosecurity, a developer of automated detection of weapons and explosives products, landed CDN 2.4 million ($1.9 million) in its first round of financing. The Seed Investment Group of the Business Development Bank of Canada led the round, followed by venture capital firm Innovatech Quebec and individual investors. The proceeds of the financing will be used to support operations until the company begins selling its first product in early 2006. The backbone of the company's product is a technology named Optical Correlator, which was developed by The National Optics Institute, a research and development firm specializing in optics and photonics technologies. The Optical Correlator enables the company to identify potential weapons in luggage and cargo. The device, a combination of software and hardware, is used in conjunction and is incorporated with detection machines that operate using X-ray, gamma ray and CT scan technologies. Target markets for the product include the transportation industry, including airports, seaports and boarder crossings, and high-end enterprises, such as bio-chemical companies, developers of military weapons and nuclear power plants. "We automate what is done today by human screeners," said Eric Bergeron, president and chief executive officer of the company. Bergeron said the company's product could be used to identify disassembled weapons that may be overlooked by screeners. Prior to starting the company in March 2004, Bergeron worked at Innovatech, where he focused on the firm's optical and wireless investment portfolio. Optosecurity holds an exclusive worldwide license to commercialize the technology from The National Optics Institute. The product "can see inside a suitcase like a doctor inside your brain," Bergeron said.