Unique compression solution developed by the CESNET Association attracts strong investors

Credo Ventures and Y Soft invest in Comprimato Systems

Prague, October 21st, 2013 – Comprimato, the market leader in JPEG2000 GPU-based compression solutions, has raised € 200,000 in a seed round from Prague-based venture capital firm Credo Ventures and Y Soft Venture Capital, a daughter company focused on seed funding established by Y Soft, global provider of scalable print system management solutions. The capital will enable the company to drive international sales expansion and strengthen its product offering.

Comprimato is a spin-off from a Prague-based research institute CESNET, which was established in 1996 as an association of all Czech universities and the Czech Academy of Sciences focusing on research and development of advanced network technologies and applications. Comprimato has developed a unique compression solution based on existing mainstream graphics processing units that delivers up to 10x faster JPEG2000 compression compared to existing software solutions at a fraction of the price of custom, single-purpose hardware solutions. Comprimato is headquartered in Brno’s South Moravian Innovation Centre.
JPEG2000 is a prevalent UHD video codec with wide range of applications from digital cinema and film post production, broadcasting, ehealth, satellite imagery to military and government applications.

“The Comprimato project represents another acknowledgment of quality of CESNET Association research work that repeatedly receives a feedback also from business market environment. It is clear that systematic challenging research is a right way to enhance the competitiveness of our country”, states Jan Gruntorad, CESNET Association director.

Jiri Matela, co-founder and the CEO of Comprimato says: “The newly raised capital will help our company scale and expand upon our product offering, helping all companies that process or work with UHD videos deliver faster, yet more cost-effective JPEG2000 solutions.

“We are delighted to have a great combination of venture capital and strategic investors on board, which are aiding us tremendously with commercialization of cutting edge technologies that originate at CESNET” says Michal Krsek, co-founder and the Director of Business Development at Comprimato.

“Credo is excited to support another Czech spin-off from the university/research environment. Comprimato has the potential to capitalize on growing applications of UHD video solutions on a global scale“. Said Vladislav Jez, Partner at Credo Ventures.

Ondrej Krajicek, Chief Research Officer at Y Soft commented on the transaction: „it is with great pleasure that we are able to support Comprimato in their mission. I am glad to see another Czech team trying to create high added value with solid technology and do business on a global scale. I also appreciate cooperation between Comprimato, Credo Ventures and Y Soft Venture Capital on this project, as each party is adding their unique assets and expertise to it.“

For more information about Comprimato, visit www.comprimato.com

About Credo Ventures

Based in Prague, Czech Republic Credo Ventures is a venture capital firm established in 2009 with the goal to become a premiere venture capital firm investing in early stage companies in the fields of Internet, IT and Health in Central Europe. Credo Ventures believes in entrepreneurship and the ability to take Central European projects and companies from zero to success on a global scale. Credo Ventures builds upon strong international relationships; its Advisory Board is headed by technology visionary and investor Esther Dyson and its Investment Committee Chairman is Eduard Mika, one of the most prominent technology entrepreneurs in Central Europe.

For more information, please visit:  www.credoventures.com

About Y Soft

Y Soft is a globally operating company that provides scalable print system management solutions (software and hardware) which enable companies and organizations to control costs, reduce waste, increase convenience for users and positively affect the environment.

YSoft SafeQ helps organizations efficiently manage and optimize their reprographic equipment and to track and account every print, copy, and scan by user, department, project, and device. To ensure the most up-to-date technology for its products and services worldwide, Y Soft has strategic alliances with the leading multifunction printer manufacturers, such as Konica Minolta, Xerox, Ricoh, HP, Sharp, and Toshiba. Y Soft also maintains manufacturing and strategic partnerships with all major card reader producers (such as Legic, HID, and Philips) and many minor card reader producers worldwide.

Y Soft Group employs over 180 people, of whom 135 are located in the Czech Republic. Consolidated Group revenues total €11mil / $15mil. For the last 9 years Y Soft has continuously experienced double digit growth. Y Soft exports 90% of its production. Y Soft is headquartered in Brno, Czech Republic, with offices in major regions of Europe, Middle East, North and Latin America, Asia and Australia.

Y Soft Venture Capital has been established in 2012 to support startup projects with interesting technology and global potential. Our goal is to further endorse Y Soft vision of bringing products with high added value developed in Central Europe to the global markets.

For more information, please visit:  www.ysoft.com

About CESNET

The CESNET Association was founded by Czech universities and the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic in 1996. It is engaged in research and development in information and communication technologies and builds and develops the CESNET national e-infrastructure for research and education. With its research activities and accomplishments, CESNET represents the Czech Republic in international projects, most notably the pan-European GÉANT network building project and grid projects (EGI.eu), and participates actively in their implementation. Among other things, the association deals with the use of high-speed networks for sharing multimedia data both through synchronous video conferencing and shared applications and asynchronous streaming.

Press release, October 21 2013

Last change: 4.11.2013