Applied Science Fiction Inc, the Austin, Texas-based image processing software firm, has raised $31.5m in its second round of venture capital funding. The new round takes total investment in the company to over $37m. The financing was led by Technology Crossover Ventures, with Amerindo Investment Advisors, JW Seligman & CO, Triton Ventures, Hambrecht & Quist, Sculley Brothers, and others also taking part. Original investors, Sevin Rosen Funds, Interwest Partners, and Centerpoint Ventures also reinvested in the second round.
ASF’s Digital ICE image correction enhancement technology is attracting interest in the traditional firm and photographic development market and in the computer and scanner industries for direct to digital image processing. The company is targeting OEMs: Eastman Kodak Co uses Digital ICE for its Picture Maker Kiosk and the Kodak DLS Operating System and Application software sold to manufacturers of commercial photo processing equipment, and Nikon Inc uses it in the SuperCoolscan 2000 scanner and the CoolScan III. Other licensees have signed up, says ASF, and will be announced over the next few months, And there are two new technologies under development. The company employs 56 people.
