IR sensor specialist raises $4m, appoints new ceo

Pyreos' chairman Howard Ford said: "Our decision to appoint Rob Baxter was based on his outstanding experience of driving companies of Pyreos' market position and size to success and we look forward to our continued growth and success under his leadership." The latest investment is intended to help the company to expand globally and to address what it sees as the potential for its technology to be used to provide touchless, gesture and proximity control in smartphones and tablets. Baxter said: "I am thrilled to have the opportunity to join Pyreos. Fundamentally, I believe we have the foundation to move Pyreos to the next level of growth." Based in its passive infrared sensor technology, Pyreos' Gesture and Proximity Sensor solutions are said to consume microWatts of power and to be 'several orders of magnitude' more energy efficient than competing technologies. Pyreos will also use the investment to launch two products which support gesture and proximity recognition at 20cm and at up to 1m, allowing it to address opportunities in the smartphone and tablet markets, as well as in other consumer electronics products.