View, Inc.

View, Inc. is an American glass-manufacturing company that produces a smart glass based on electrochromism.

View, Inc.
Private
IndustrySmart glass, Smart Building Solutions
Founded2007
FounderPaul Nguyen & Mike Scobey
Headquarters
Milpitas, California
,
United States
Key people
  • Rao Mulpuri
    (CEO)
  • Rahul Bammi
    (CBO)
  • Rob Rozbicki
    (CTO)
  • Vidul Prakash
    (CFO)
Websitewww.view.com

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 .[2]:4 The company was renamed "Soladigm" in October 2007,[2]:4 and appointed Rao Mulpuri as CEO in December 2008.[3][4] The firm moved headquarters to Milpitas, California in a reconditioned Seagate Technology factory.[5]

In July 2010, the company announced its intent 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 received a $3.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.[8]

The company name was changed to View, Inc. in November 2012,[9] and began shipping from its new factory near the end of the third quarter of 2012.[10] In 2015, installing the glass at the new Overstock headquarters in Salt Lake City.[11]

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.[12] In 2019, the OAA installed View Dynamic Glass at its headquarters.[13]

Funding

In 2007, the company 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 Prior to the company's name change, Soladigm was awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for $3.5 million, derived from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.[14]

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.[12]

In June 2017, BlackRock led a $200 million investment in View, bringing total funding for the company to $700 million.[15]

In 2018, View, Inc. announced a $1.1 Billion investment from the SoftBank Vision Fund.[16]

Products and technology

The company's product, View Dynamic Glass, is glass with an electrochromic (EC) coating consisting of multiple layers of ceramic metal oxide with a thickness of 1 micron.[17] Low voltage wiring is added so the tint of the glass can be controlled through an app or centralized software system in response to weather or interior temperature.[18][3] When the low-voltage direct current electrical signal is activated, the layer of materials in the insulating glass changes from transparent to up to 99% tinted for visible wavelengths.[19] [20]

The technology is designed to allow natural light to enter buildings while deflecting glare and infrared radiation when tinted.[3][21] Each window pane adjusts its tint throughout the day, and has its own IP address allowing the windows to be controlled from an app.[22][23] The intensity of the tint can be adjusted to control glare, direct sunlight coming in, and to modify privacy.[24]

By 2016, the company made panels that could be retrofitted as well as panels based on builders' specifications.[18]

Its main installations have been for commercial office buildings, schools, airports, and hospitals.[25] View has installed 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)..[26][27][28]

In 2018, the firm partnered with Microsoft Azure IoT to develop a physical security system that notifies building managers when glass breaks.[29][30]

Litigation

In January 2009, Nguyen was removed as CTO and fired the next month.[2]:7 He filed the 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.[31] 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[32][2]:30[32][33]

In Feb 2018, litigation reached a settlement after investor challenge,[34] securing the company's capital structure; a proposal to amend Delaware's corporate law emerged from the difficult facts of the case.[35]

In December 2012, SAGE Electrochromics filed a patent infringement suit against View; View counter-sued a few months later.[36]

References
  1. "Venture funding tumbles in Sonoma County". Santa Rosa Press Democrat. 2009-04-24. Retrieved 2018-08-27.
  2. "C.A. No. 11138-VCS: Paul Nguyen v. View". Chancery Court of Delaware. June 6, 2017.
  3. "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. 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. Tilley, Aaron (13 August 2015). "Smart Window Maker View Raises $150 Million". Forbes. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  13. "The OAA Wraps Up Headquarters Building Renewal". Canadian Architect. 2019-10-18. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
  14. "Berkeley Lab Technology Spawns Successful Start-up Companies". AZoNano.com. 2010-10-12. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
  15. Stangel, Luke (June 27, 2017). "Milpitas 'smart glass' startup raises $200M to take on the real estate world". Silicon Valley Business Journal.
  16. "Bloomberg - Are you a robot?". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
  17. Cronin, J. P. (2004), Aegerter, Michel A.; Mennig, Martin (eds.), "Electrochromic Coatings", Sol-Gel Technologies for Glass Producers and Users, Springer US, pp. 261–269, doi:10.1007/978-0-387-88953-5_34, ISBN 978-0-387-88953-5, retrieved 2020-01-24
  18. Swartz, Jon (April 27, 2016). "High-tech brings its smarts to buildings". USA Today.
  19. "Regeneron goes high-tech with 'smart' windows". DV Plus - Westchester Business Journal Daily Voice. 2019-07-31. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
  20. https://view.com/sites/default/files/documents/igu-data-sheet-us.pdf
  21. Wang, Ucilia (2011-02-15). "Soladigm Closes $40M for Its First Smart Window Factory". Reuters. Retrieved 2012-05-02.
  22. Riski, Tess. "New Smart Glass Cuts Glare, Alerts Police if There's a Break-In". WSJ. Retrieved 2019-07-25.
  23. "Your Next Office Window Could Come With an IP Address". Cheddar. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
  24. "Regeneron goes high-tech with 'smart' windows". DV Plus - Westchester Business Journal Daily Voice. 2019-07-31. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
  25. "Silicon Valley Daily | View Glass Raises $1.1 Billion From Softbank". Retrieved 2018-12-10.
  26. Quigley, Aidan (11 June 2018). "DFW Airport to spend $25 million to install 'intelligent' windows". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  27. Bachman, Justin (17 April 2018). "Airports Are Using 'Smart Glass' to Make You Spend More". Bloomberg. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  28. 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.
  29. "Microsoft Azure IoT". Microsoft.
  30. Dignan, Larry. "Building windows powered by algorithms: View launches SmartProtect, an IoT security system for smart windows | ZDNet". ZDNet. Retrieved 2018-11-14.
  31. "Chancery Court Holds That Stockholder Rejection of Corporate Proposals Are Not Defective Corporate Acts That Can Later Be Ratified". Lexology. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  32. "Chancery Clarifies Distinction Between Defective Corporate Acts and Unauthorized Corporate Acts". Delaware Corporate & Commercial Litigation Blog. 8 June 2017.
  33. "Issue Thirteen: Chancery Court Clarifies Difference between "Defective" and "Deliberately Unauthorized" Corporate Acts". Goodwin Law Securities Snapshot June 20, 2017. June 20, 2017.
  34. Montgomery, Jeff (February 15, 2018). "View Inc. Fights Investors' Challenge To $60M Settlement". Law360.
  35. 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.
  36. "Corning leads $62M investment in 'smart' glass maker View". SPIE Europe. 19 June 2013.
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