ALPHARETTA, Ga., Jan. 14, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- QSpex Technologies is pleased to announce the closing of a $15 million Series E financing. Concurrently, the board has appointed Brett Craig, a QSpex board member and advisor, as President and Chief Executive Officer. Additionally, Dr. Evan Melrose has been appointed Chairman. The Series E financing round was co-led by investors Spindletop Capital and Essex Woodlands Health Ventures and will fund the launch of the company's second generation products: the Nano Lab and Mini Lab lens manufacturing systems.
QSpex, based in Alpharetta, Ga., is a medical device company in the eye care industry that has developed a process to manufacture high-quality lenses, including polarized, anti-reflective and photochromic, in a fraction of the time and cost compared to traditional lens manufacturing.
"Traditionally, the lens manufacturing process takes anywhere from a few days to a few weeks and includes multiple stakeholders," notes Dr. Evan Melrose, Managing Director at Spindletop Capital. "However, QSpex has developed a system that removes all of those steps and makes high quality lenses at a substantial cost saving to the customer. We firmly believe the Nano Lab and Mini Lab will change the way lenses are manufactured and distributed in the future."
The Nano Lab and Mini Lab use the same technology as the 1st generation QSpex Lens System, but encompass more automated features that decrease the amount of time required for technicians to manufacture lenses. The Nano Lab has the capability to make up to 20 pairs per hour while the Mini Lab can make up to 120 pairs per hour.
Brett Craig comes to QSpex with more than 15 years of eye care experience. Most recently, Craig served as President and CEO of PixelOptics, a venture-backed electronic eyeglass company. Prior to PixelOptics, Craig was the President and COO of Transitions Optical, the world's leading provider of photochromic lenses. During his tenure at Transitions, he also held capacities as General Manager and Managing Director for the Asia and Europe, Middle East, and Africa Regions.
"QSpex has the potential to disrupt the way lenses are made, sold, and distributed today. I'm honored to work with such a dedicated team in the eye care industry and look forward to the roll out of the Nano Lab and Mini Lab systems this year, as well as our refocused delivery platform," Craig said.
ABOUT QSPEX TECHNOLOGIES
QSpex Technologies, Inc. was founded in 2007 based on proprietary technology created by Dr. Kai Su, Founder and Chief Scientific Officer. The Company's mission is to offer vision care providers the unique capability to increase patient satisfaction with both the quality of the lens and lens treatments delivered and the time to finished product. The Company is led by a management team whose many accomplishments include founding CIBA Vision in 1980 and CIBA Vision Ophthalmics in 1990. The QSpex Nano Lab and Mini Lab are breakthrough technologies that allow vision care providers to produce top-quality spectacle lenses in a fraction of the time compared to traditional methods.
ABOUT SPINDLETOP CAPITAL
Spindletop Capital, founded in 2011, is a healthcare investment firm focused on providing expansion capital for commercial stage healthcare companies. Based in Austin, Spindletop Capital is managed by an unrivaled team of investment professionals and advisors with deep operating, technical, and transactional experience. Spindletop Capital leverages the organization's deep experience, broad network and proprietary access to Texas resources to enhance value for management teams and financing syndicates. Spindletop Capital invests nationally across all sectors of healthcare including medical devices, diagnostics, healthcare services, healthcare IT, specialty pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.
ABOUT ESSEX WOODLANDS HEALTH VENTURES
With $2.5 billion under management, Essex Woodlands Health Ventures is one of the largest and oldest venture capital firms pursuing investments in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices, health care services and health information technology. Since its founding in 1985, Essex Woodlands has maintained its singular commitment to the healthcare industry and has been involved in the founding, investing, and/or management of over 100 healthcare companies ranging across all sectors, stages and geography. The team is comprised of 25 senior investment professionals with offices in Palo Alto, Houston, New York, and London.