VentureBeat

Thin, flexible display tech is one of those advances that has been just over the horizon since the Internet bubble started inflating. Remember the promises of e-paper — a crossbreed with the best qualities of both paper and computer screens, used as portable reading material? So far the best we’ve gotten is the Amazon Kindle, but Plastic Logic is hoping to change that, with a plan for commercialization next year.

Plastic Logic, spun off from Cambridge University in 2000, has been working for a long time on its technology, a semi-transparent sheet of tough plastic that can quickly create and erase static images (video is still a challenge). Electronic books, of course, are the obvious application, but there is also potential for signage, RFIDs, head-up displays (HUDs) and other gadgets.

Nowadays, the company has its headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. But more importantly, it also has a manufacturing center, in Dresden, Germany, from which location it will introduce a mass-market device incorporating a flexible display — pitting it against E-Ink, Samsung, Panasonic and several other rivals who are working in a similar time frame.

That facility is scheduled to open in September 2009 2008 [update: The company initially misreported the date; the plant is slated to open next month. We'll have more details soon.] but the company says its product will be on the market in early 2009, which suggests that it’s probably working with another manufacturer. Who that could be presents some interesting possibilities. Because it’s just a display, the technology seems like a natural match for a device like a cellphone, which has a tiny screen but can download data such as the daily newspaper.

Polymer Vision has already installed a tiny foldable display into a phone called the Readius, which is slated for release in Europe this year. A larger screen could potentially be a smart add-on for a cutting-edge phone like Nokia’s N95 or the iPhone. (Interestingly enough, Steve Jobs hinted earlier this year that an Apple reader of some sort might be on its way.)

In the meantime, if you can’t bear holding out another year for a flexible display, you only have to wait until October, when the 75th anniversary issue of Esquire will have a blinking e-paper display made by E-Ink incorporated into its cover as an elaborate publicity stunt.

The $50 million funding for Plastic Logic was led by existing investors Oak Investment Partners and Amadeus Capital Partners, with participation from Intel Capital, Morningside Technology Ventures and others (a full list is here). The company has taken over $200 million to date.

TODAY’S HEADLINES:

• ViOptix pulls in $12M for tissue-oxygen sensors (release)
• Tethys Bioscience raises funding, preps diabetes-prediction test (release)
• Synergy Life Sciences closes $143M medical-device fund (release)
• Venture-backed Go Fig. files for bankruptcy protection (VentureWire, sub req’d)
• Whole-genome sequencer Knome strikes deal with Beijing Genomics Institute (release)
• Omeros, inflammation and CNS drug developer, files for $115M IPO (Edgar)
• Clinipace, clinical-trial software maker, seeks $2.6M (Triangle Business Journal)
• Seno Medical receives $1M from Texas state fund(release)
• Cardiovascular Systems pulls in $11M for arterial-plaque device (PE Hub)
• Escoublac draws $6.7M for diabetes treatments (PE Hub)
• Invitrogen acquires liver-cell product maker CellzDirect for $57M (release)
• RxElite buys drug-ingredient maker FineTech Labs for $17M (release)

ViOptix pulls in $12M for tissue-oxygen sensors — ViOptix, a Fremont, Calif., developer of tissue-oxygen sensors, raised $12.2 million in a fourth round of funding. Investors included Channel Medical Partners, Lincoln Funds International, Canadian Medical Discoveries Fund and Morningside Technology Ventures.

ViOptix, which was founded in 1999, makes non-invasive monitors that measure oxygen levels in the body’s tissues. Low oxygen levels can signal that a patient may have poor blood circulation, vascular disease, a tissue graft that isn’t taking, or even cancer. The company has so far raised a total of $28.7 million.

Synergy Life Sciences closes $143M medical-device fund — Synergy Life Science Partners, a newish Portola Valley, Calif., venture-capital firm, raised $143 million for its first fund, which will focus on medical-device investments. The firm was founded in 2006.

The firm intends to invest in early-stage companies developing medical devices or “combination” devices that deliver a drug of some sort to a particular location in the body. The company’s areas of interest include heart disease, bone and spinal disorders, metabolic conditions such as diabetes, neurological problems and eye conditions.

Synergy was founded by John Onopchenko, Richard Stack and William Starling. Onopchenko was most recently lead medical-device investor for Johnson & Johnson’s VC unit. Stack and Starling co-founded Synecor, a medical-device incubator with operations in California and North Carolina. Synergy will have the right to invest in Synecor companies.

Venture-backed Go Fig. files for bankruptcy protection — Go Fig., a venture-backed “medical aesthetics” startup in St. Louis, Mo., has filed for bankrupty protection, VentureWire reports (subscription required). Last month, the company closed 17 of its 18 clinics across the U.S.

Go Fig., formerly known as Advanced LipoDissolve, offered “micro-injections” that it claimed would dissove fat cells. The active chemical in its procedure isn’t regulated by the FDA, although some state officials have raised concerns about its safety. The company was backed by Bessemer Venture Partners, which last September plowed at least $10 million into Go Fig. to assist with its clinic-expansion plans.