View, Inc.

View
Formerly
 Echromics (2007), Soladigm (2007)
Private
Industry Smart glass
Founded 2007
Founder Paul Nguyen
Headquarters Milpitas, California, United States
Key people
 Rao Mulpuri (CEO)
Rahul Bammi (CBO)
Robert Rozbicki (CTO)
Website viewglass.com

View, Inc. is an American technology company that manufactures View Dynamic Glass, a smart window based on electrochromism. The glass is an energy-efficient building technology which allows windows to be manually tinted or cleared, allowing natural light to enter buildings while deflecting glare infrared radiation (heat) when tinted. Founded in 2007, the company is headquartered in Milpitas, California with a manufacturing facility in Olive Branch, Mississippi.

History

The company was co-founded in April 2007 by Paul Nguyen and Mike Scobey as "eChromics".[1] Based in Santa Rosa, California the company developed smart glass using electrochromism.[2]:4 It raised a Series A round of funding from Sigma Partners and Khosla Ventures, which later took over control of the company and received preferred shares.[2]:5–6 The company was renamed to "Soladigm" in October 2007,[2]:4 and appointed Rao Mulpuri as CEO in December 2008.[3][4] Soladigm moved its headquarters to Milpitas, California after reconditioning a Seagate Technology factory.[5]

In July 2010, the company announced that it intended to start production from a new facility in Olive Branch, Mississippi.[6] The same year, it was one of 12 winners of General Electric's $200 million "Ecomagination Challenge."[7] It also received a $3.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.[8] Soladigm changed its name to View, Inc. in November 2012,[9] and began shipping to customers from its new factory near the end of the third quarter of 2012.[10] The company took on its first large-scale project in 2015, installing the glass at the new Overstock headquarters in Salt Lake City.[11]

In January 2009 Nguyen was removed as CTO and was fired the next month.[2]:7 Nguyen field suit against the company in January 2010,[2]:7–13 seeking to invalidate rounds of financing by the company and challenging his firing as a violation of the company's certificate of incorporate and voting agreement.[12] The parties agreed to arbitration, and in December 2015, the arbitrator ruled in Nguyen's favor, which, as the judge in subsequent litigation said, "essentially blew up View’s extant capital structure".[2]:13[13] As of June 2017 additional litigation was still underway due to Nguyen's challenge to further actions taken by the company to restructure the company and its board.[2]:30[13][14] As of February 2018 the litigation with Nguyen was close to a $60M settlement, but investors were challenging it.[15] Later that month the settlement was approved, securing the company's capital structure; a proposal to amend Delaware's corporate law emerged from the difficult facts of the case.[16]

In December 2012, SAGE Electrochromics filed a patent infringement suit against View; View counter-sued a few months later.[17] The litigation was closed in June 2015.[18]

Charlotte Airport using View Glass

In 2013, Corning led an investment round of $60 million for View.[5] Madrone Capital Partners invested $100 million in the company in January 2014.[3] The company received $150 million in late-stage funding in 2015. Funding was led by the New Zealand Super Fund.[19] In June 2017, BlackRock led a $200 million investment in View, bringing total funding for the company to $700 million.[20]

The Department of Design and Environmental Analysis at Cornell University conducted a study in 2018, showing that electrochromic glass environments reported drops in the evidence of eyestrain, headaches, and drowsiness.[21]

Products and technology

View dynamic glass electrochromic (EC) coating has multiple layers of ceramic metal oxide with a thickness of 1 micron. Low voltage wiring is added so the tint of the glass can be controlled manually, through an app. It can also be controlled through a centralized software system that can change tint in response to weather or interior temperature.[22][3] The technology is designed to allow natural light to enter buildings while deflecting glare infrared radiation (heat) when tinted.[3][23]

As of 2016, the company made panels that could be retrofitted as well as panels based on builders' specifications.[22]

Building owners bought the company's glass systems primarily to save money on heating and cooling, but also to avoid having to use shades.[20][24][25] Its main installations have been for commercial office buildings, schools, airports, and hospitals.[26]

EXO Building in Reston using View Glass

View has installed or is in the process of installing its dynamic glass windows at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), Charlotte-Douglas International Airport (CLT), San Francisco International Airport (SFO), Meacham International Airport in Fort Worth and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).[27][28][29]

References

  1. ↑ "Venture funding tumbles in Sonoma County". Santa Rosa Press Democrat. 2009-04-24. Retrieved 2018-08-27.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "C.A. No. 11138-VCS: Paul Nguyen v. View". Chancery Court of Delaware. June 6, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "View soaks up $100M to make your windows smarter — and more environmentally friendly | VentureBeat". venturebeat.com. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
  4. ↑ Haggin, Patience (2017-08-11). "The Secret to Startup Success? Fudge Your Age". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
  5. 1 2 Noglows, Paul. "How View Is Reinventing Your Windows". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
  6. ↑ "Soladigm, Milpitas company that makes 'smart windows,' to build new factory". The Mercury News. 2010-07-29. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
  7. ↑ Kolodny, Lora (16 November 2010). "GE Invests In Makers of Solar-Powered Air Conditioners, And Eleven Others". Tech Crunch. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  8. ↑ "Berkeley Lab Technology Spawns Successful Start-up Companies". Energy.gov. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  9. ↑ "Soladigm, Milpitas company that makes 'smart windows,' to build new factory". The Mercury News. 2010-07-29. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
  10. ↑ Wang, Ucilia. "A Startup Shows Off 'Smart Windows' In San Francisco Hotel". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
  11. ↑ Herald, Karissa Neely Daily. "View Dynamic Glass: Utah office buildings opting for wise windows". Daily Herald. Retrieved 2018-06-03.
  12. ↑ "Chancery Court Holds That Stockholder Rejection of Corporate Proposals Are Not Defective Corporate Acts That Can Later Be Ratified". Lexology. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  13. 1 2 "Chancery Clarifies Distinction Between Defective Corporate Acts and Unauthorized Corporate Acts". Delaware Corporate & Commercial Litigation Blog. 8 June 2017.
  14. ↑ "Issue Thirteen: Chancery Court Clarifies Difference between "Defective" and "Deliberately Unauthorized" Corporate Acts". Goodwin Law Securities Snapshot June 20, 2017. June 20, 2017.
  15. ↑ Montgomery, Jeff (February 15, 2018). "View Inc. Fights Investors' Challenge To $60M Settlement". Law360.
  16. ↑ Bigler, C. Stephen; Norman, Stephanie M. (Spring 2018). "Proposed Amendments to Section 204 of the Delaware General Corporation Law Resolve Uncertainty Created by the Reasoning in Nguyen v. View, Inc" (PDF). In Our Opinion: The Newsletter of The Legal Opinions Committee, ABA Business Law Section. 17 (3): 16.
  17. ↑ "Corning leads $62M investment in 'smart' glass maker View". SPIE Europe. 19 June 2013.
  18. ↑ "Sage Electrochromics, Inc. v. View, Inc". RPX. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  19. ↑ Tilley, Aaron (13 August 2015). "Smart Window Maker View Raises $150 Million". Forbes. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  20. 1 2 Stangel, Luke (June 27, 2017). "Milpitas 'smart glass' startup raises $200M to take on the real estate world". Silicon Valley Business Journal.
  21. ↑ "Worker Reactions to Electrochromic and Low e Glass Office Windows" (PDF). MedwinPublishers. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  22. 1 2 Swartz, Jon (April 27, 2016). "High-tech brings its smarts to buildings". USA Today.
  23. ↑ Wang, Ucilia (2011-02-15). "Soladigm Closes $40M for Its First Smart Window Factory". Reuters. Retrieved 2012-05-02.
  24. ↑ Bachman, Justin (17 April 2018). "Airports Are Using 'Smart Glass' to Make You Spend More". Bloomberg. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  25. ↑ Quigley, Aidan (11 June 2018). "DFW Airport to spend $25 million to install 'intelligent' windows". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  26. ↑ Bachman, Justin (22 April 2018). "Airports Are Using 'Smart Glass' To Make You Spend More Money". NDTV via The Washington Post. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  27. ↑ "DFW Airport to spend $25 million to install 'intelligent' windows". Dallas News. 2018-06-11. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  28. ↑ Kart, Jeff. "Smart Glass Makes Waiting At The Airport More Tolerable: Study". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  29. ↑ danny (2018-04-17). "Study: Smart Windows Improve Dining Experience in Airports". QSR magazine. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
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