Exfinity Venture invests $1 million in Silicon Valley-based LensBricks

BENGALURU: Exfinity Venture, a venture capital firm backed by former Infosys veterans T V Mohandas Pai and Balakrishnan V, has invested $1 million (Rs 6 crore) in Silicon Valley-based LensBricks, a maker of smart sensing technology for homes.

The firm participated in a $2-million fund-raising round in LensBricks along with North Bridge Ventures and Lux Capital.

The fund invests $1 million-$2 million in startups operating in the field of analytics, mobility and cloud. It has previously invested in video streaming startup RiverSilica Technologies. LensBricks is its fourth investment.

“The goal of Exfinity Fund is to back strong promoters having ideas in deep technology space,” said Balakrishnan, chairman of Exfinity Ventures.

LensBricks’ smart camera can be programmed to provide specific feeds to users, unlike CCTV cameras that need to be monitored continuously. For instance, LensBricks’ system triggers an alarm and sends alerts to a user’s mobile phone only when a stranger is in the house, and not when a child enters or a car is parked. Its applications are not limited only for security. The camera can also be programmed to look out for and record memorable events as well.

“It’s great to see India-based VC firms like Exfinity forthcoming to invest in consumer hardware product start-ups and technology companies,” said Rajeshwari Kannan, who cofounded LensBricks in 2013 along with Pranav Mishra, a former AMD executive and Ramesh Rasker, assistant professor at MIT Media Labs.