Cambrios Technologies Enters Strategic Growth Phase with New CEO, John LeMoncheck

Cambrios Technologies Corporation, the leader in nanotechnology-based solutions to enable the development of electronic devices with transparent conductors, entered a new strategic phase with the appointment of John LeMoncheck as president and CEO, and a $5 million Series D-3 financing round from Samsung Venture Investment Corporation.

Both announcements advance Cambrios’ efforts to accelerate product introductions and commercial growth in multiple consumer electronic device markets. Dr. Michael R. Knapp, Cambrios’ founding president and CEO, will become chairman.

“Adding John to the Cambrios executive team was the culmination of an extensive search led by previous CEO and now chairman, Michael Knapp,” said Clint Bybee, current board member and managing partner at ARCH Venture Partners, an investor in Cambrios. “We welcome John and thank Mike for his leadership of the company, and for helping us recruit a world-class CEO to propel the next phase of Cambrios’ growth.”

LeMoncheck brings extensive expertise in the technology and consumer electronics industries and in forging commercial partnerships. Most recently, as president and CEO of SiBEAM, a pioneer in 60 GHz-based millimeter wave wireless technology, LeMoncheck developed the company into a leader in multi-gigabit communications for the consumer electronics market and successfully led the acquisition of the company by Silicon Image.

“John’s successful track record of collaborating with customers and developing essential industry-wide partnerships makes him the ideal candidate to lead and help cultivate new relationships for Cambrios,” said Dr. Leighton Read, current board member and a partner at Alloy Ventures, an investor in Cambrios.

“Cambrios has a unique opportunity resulting from its breakthroughs in the development of transparent conductor solutions with leading-edge optical and conductive properties,” said LeMoncheck. “The company is poised to transform the touch, display, photovoltaic and lighting markets by enabling new and exciting consumer electronics applications. I look forward to working with the team to quickly make this a reality.”

Samsung Venture Investment Corporation¹s investment of $5 million in series D-3 financing will be critical in the advancement of Cambrios’ objective to achieve commercial growth. Leading into this investment, Cambrios was in close discussions for collaboration on important and valuable projects with the Samsung Group over the past several years.

“This strategic partnership with Samsung Venture Investment Corporation offers the opportunity to increase the pace with which we can bring tangible, significant value to Samsung Group companies in their products,” said LeMoncheck. “This is a very important milestone for the overall penetration of ClearOhm materials in our target markets.”

Cambrios ClearOhm material, which can be purchased from the company as a coating material for plastic or glass, is currently the only product capable of providing the top tier performance required of today’s electronics products by helping manufacturers to consistently achieve better transmission and resistance than is possible with indium tin oxide (ITO). It can also be purchased as already deposited on PET film and others substrates or as a transfer film from several different optical film providers.

“Cambrios leads the market with the development of an alternative to vacuum-deposited ceramic materials such as ITO. It has built a significant business in developing ground-breaking products using nanotechnology,” said Dr. Dong Su Kim, investment director, Samsung Ventures, America. “John LeMoncheck’s excellent business vision and Cambrios’ technical accomplishments have led to innovative products that are critical to driving increased adoption of ClearOhm materials. We look forward to contributing to Cambrios’ continued progress in powering various consumer electronics applications with its ClearOhm technology.”