There’s a company down in Raleigh, N.C. called Valencell that makes biometric sensors for the ear. Its PerformTek products are built into earbuds from Jabra and LG, among others.
Valencell, reports the Triangle Business Journal, has a new $7 million funding round (increasing its investment to $23 million), and a new lab and development facility in the RTP area. The article, consisting of an interview with new CEO Michael Dering and a tour of the facility, quotes Dering as making a very big deal of how secret all the company’s work is and how many new partners it’s going to have but just can’t tell anyone about yet. Dering even denies an Apple deal, just to ratchet up the hype.
The point of the story seems to be that this is Dering’s third CEO spot, and that has taken public all of the three companies he’s led. Sounds to us as though the new money, which put Dering in place, is fixed on an exit.