Robert Bosch Venture Capital participates in $20 million funding round of UltraSense

Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH (RBVC), the corporate venture capital company of the Bosch group, has completed a series B investment in UltraSense Systems, a start-up based in San Jose, California.

Founded by a team of experts who have designed and delivered billions of sensors to the consumer electronics market, UltraSense has developed a 3D ultrasonic sensor that can detect touch through any material and virtually any thickness to turn surfaces into interfaces.

“UltraSense's technology is of strong strategic relevance and can strengthen Bosch's leadership in various sensing applications,” said RBVC Managing Director Dr. Ingo Ramesohl. “Their solution creates new touch interface opportunities for multiple Bosch products like power tools, home appliances, or in automobiles.”

The Series B funding round was led by Artiman Venture Capital and RBVC. Other investors include Sony Innovation Fund, Abies Ventures, Asahi Kasei Corporation, and Hui Capital.

UltraSense's broad product line addresses mobile devices such as smartphones, consumer/IoT, automotive and industrial user interface requirements. The high- end smartphone market alone opens an opportunity for UltraSense of more than 1 billion sensors a year according to statista1. The TouchPoint family of sensors is the world's smallest ultrasound system-on-a-chip delivering touch sensing from thin to thick surfaces through any material including metal, glass, wood, ceramic, or plastic.

The sensors come in tiny package sizes and are designed to operate independent of a product's host processor with all the algorithm processing embedded in the sensor. It can be used as a standalone power button by powering-on the entire product with a simple touch or can be a multi-functional user interface using a series of taps, holds and swipes.