Geomagic receives $8M investment from Valhalla Partners

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N. C. - Geomagic, the leader in digital shape sampling and processing (DSSP), has received an $8 million investment from Valhalla Partners. The funds will be used to develop innovative products and software platforms in engineering and medical markets, accelerate growth rates, and build a scalable business infrastructure.

"Geomagic represents an ideal match for our investment philosophy," says Scott Frederick, a general partner at Valhalla Partners and now a member of Geomagic's board of directors. "The company has patented technology, market leadership, and a strong management team. Geomagic has demonstrated the ability to consistently increase revenue while maintaining a high level of profitability. We are thrilled to help Geomagic attain its next stage of growth."

Since its inception in 1996, Geomagic has developed a range of award-winning products for DSSP, which describes the process of digitally capturing physical objects and automatically creating accurate 3D models for downstream design, analysis and inspection. Current Geomagic products include:

* Geomagic Studio for digital reconstruction of complex physical objects;
* Geomagic Qualify, which enables fast, 3D graphical comparisons between CAD models and as-built parts for first-article inspection, inline or shop-floor inspection, trend analysis, and in-depth assessment;
* Geomagic Fashion for quickly extracting design intent of physical objects and creating CAD-ready surfaces for mechanical design;
* Geomagic Blade, the first inspection tool based on unique requirements from leading turbine-machinery companies for automatic dimensioning of turbine blades;
* Geomagic Review, free software for inspection analysis and collaboration; and
* Geomagic Piano, a dental CAD/CAM software platform that can be customized for dental equipment manufacturers.

Version 10 of Geomagic Studio and Geomagic Qualify, released earlier this year, were the most successful new product launches in the company's history, coming at a time when DSSP is being acknowledged as a key to greater productivity and cost savings. A recent study by the Aberdeen Group stated that best-in-class companies are 2.7 times more likely to use DSSP in design and inspection than are less-successful companies.

"The support of Valhalla Partners is another validation of our technology and the growing acceptance of the DSSP market category," says Ping Fu, Geomagic president and CEO. "We think the time is right to use our dominance in the early adopter market as a springboard into broader professional markets. Valhalla has the experience, integrity and industry know-how to help us build a great company."
About Geomagic

Geomagic (www.geomagic.com) is a worldwide software and services company headquartered in Research Triangle Park, N.C., with subsidiaries in Europe and Asia and distributors worldwide. More than 8,000 professionals in industries such as automotive, aerospace, medical devices and consumer products use Geomagic software and services. Applications include enabling mass customization with the same efficiency and cost as mass production, improving dental care with individually designed devices, speeding time to market for consumer products, automating inspection for better quality in dramatically less time, increasing safety for NASA shuttle missions, and optimizing design for everything from racing cars to blimps.
About Valhalla Partners

Valhalla Partners (www.valhallapartners.com) is a trusted partner and advisor to technology entrepreneurs in their quest to build world-class companies. Based in Vienna, Virginia, the firm's management team has made more than 120 investments over the past 20 years and produced almost $1 billion of investment proceeds. Valhalla prefers investments where the mission of the company is to innovate, challenge and fundamentally change the dynamics of new and existing markets. Investments by Valhalla's team include Advertising.com, BDMetrics, CareerBuilder.com, Clarify, EnterpriseDB, Epicor, Exchange Solutions, JumpTap, LeftHand Networks, Mobius, NextLink, Nirvanix, Progress Software, Proxicom, RealOps, Register.com, Riverbed Technologies, SafeNet, SEPATON, ServiceBench, Trilogy, and webMethods. Valhalla Partners brings the full power and network of its experienced team to every investment it makes, helping companies grow faster and smarter regardless of size or maturity. For more information, go to www.valhallapartners.com.