China's IPV, Tsing back US hygiene technology start-up

The capital will go towards expanding RayVio's manufacturing capacity - the workforce is expected to double in size - and augmenting sales, marketing and distribution to enter new markets. The technology is thought to have great potential in countries, such as China, that have problems with contaminated drinking water.

Existing investors including DCM Ventures, Capricorn Investment Group, Applied Ventures, Augment Ventures, Tolero Ventures and New Ground Ventures also participated in the investment. RayVio was founded in 2011 and received a $4.6 million Series A round from DCM and Capricorn. They also provided $9.3 million in Series B funding last March alongside Applied, Augment, New Ground and Tolero.

RayVio's UV LED technology can be applied to air disinfection and point-of-use water treatment. The company claims that existing cleaning solutions are often ineffective, while the current UV technologies either are not powerful or efficient enough to provide safe disinfection, or contain mercury. It is estimated that more than 3.4 million people die every year from water-related diseases, while one in 25 hospital patients develop healthcare-associated infections.

"RayVio is poised to transform daily life in places like China, where residents often lack access to basic necessities like safe water and hospitals," said Alex Banh, a partner at IPV, in a statement. He will join the RayVio board alongside Don Ye, founder and managing partner at Tsing.

With offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Silicon Valley, IPV makes early growth-stage investments in areas such as software, cleantech, IT services and semiconductors. The firm has $1.5 billion in assets under management and has invested in around 70 companies, achieving more than 20 liquidity events. IPV is the offshore arm of China-based Infotech Capital.

Tsing Capital makes venture investments through its China Environment Fund series. It has backed multiple US-based companies with technologies that are relevant to China. Recent investments include participation in a $22 million round for display technology developer QD Vision.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• North America
• Cleantech
• Venture
• Early-stage
• Tsing Capital
• IPV Capital
• USA
• China