Participated · Series B · May 2018

Vesper is a Boston, MA-based advanced sensor company led by CEO Matt Crowley that develops proprietary piezoelectric MEMS technology. Its core products include MEMS microphones (notably the VM1010 with ZeroPower Listening) that bring voice activation to battery-powered consumer devices while drawing nearly zero power, as well as acoustic event-detection products. The company closed a $23M Series B round, bringing total funding to date to $40M. The financing was led by American Family Ventures with participation from Accomplice, Amazon Alexa Fund, Baidu, Bose Ventures, Hyperplane, Sands Capital, Shure, Synaptics, ZZ Capital and other undisclosed investors. Vesper intends to use the funds to scale mass production of its microphones and to support expanded research and development, hiring, international sales offices, and growth of customer support. Vesper develops the VM1010 piezoelectric MEMS microphone that harvests energy from sound waves to enable always-on voice detection with very low power draw. The VM1010 listens for human-voice frequencies and wakes a device to keyword detection within milliseconds, reducing standby battery consumption by a factor of 100. Its piezoelectric design is intrinsically water- and dust-proof, enabling rugged and portable outdoor use cases. Vesper’s tech originated in part from the University of Michigan and the company is based in Boston. Target applications include mobile devices, hearables, Internet of Things products, and connected-car systems. The company recently closed a financing round to support product development and commercialization.

Participated · Equity · May 2018

Vesper Technologies develops piezoelectric MEMS microphones that replace traditional diaphragms and back plates with flexible piezoelectric elements, producing waterproof, dustproof, particle‑resistant and shockproof microphones. Its no‑back‑plate design allows flexible microphone plates to bend and respond to stress without degrading. The piezoelectric approach also reduces power demands, which the company says can enable broader use in voice‑controlled TVs, doorbells, security cameras and augmented‑reality hearables. Vesper has integrated with Amazon AVS and received an endorsement and investment from Amazon through its Alexa Fund. The company raised $23 million to finance commercialization of its piezoelectric microphone technology. Vesper aims to capture a meaningful share of the MEMS and sensor market, which Yole Developpement projects will reach $66 billion by 2021.