Matrix reloaded

Matrixview, a company that develops data compression technologies, has completed a $1.847 million share placement through the issue of approximately 12.3 million shares to sophisticated investors. A company representative was not available to comment on whether those investors were private individuals or institutions.

In a statement, Matrixview said that most investors were existing shareholders in the company, which has developed what it calls Adaptive Binary Optimisation technology, an image compression algorithm.

Matrixview, which services the healthcare sector, said the capital raising would be used in commercialising its algorithm.

Based in Singapore and the United States, but listed in Australia, Matrixview have a development centre in Chennai, India and are represented in Australia by Melbourne solicitors Munro Legal. Munro Legal advised on GUD Holdings' acquisition of Oates Clean and Monarch Pool Systems, the purchase of Jiffy Firelighters and Littler Lucifer by Symex Holdings and TSV Holdings' acquisition of Tecsound in Queensland and Western Australia.

Two venture capitalists also sit on Matrixview's board. Bruce Hauptman of B Hauptman & Associates in the US and Suk Jin Kim of Incoreinvest in Korea are executive and non-executive directors respectively. B Hauptman & Associates manages $US825 million on behalf of institutional investors such as Soros Fund Management and Stanford University's Hoover Institute.

Chairman and algorithm inventor Arvind Thiagarajan was named "Junior Scientist 2001" by the Indian government. Australian non-executive director Noel Robertson was formerly an executive director of Vodafone Australia and was Telstra's group general manager. Robertson also has venture capital experience, the company says.