View, Inc. is an American glass-manufacturing company that produces a

smart glass Smart glass or switchable glass (also called a smart window or switchable window) is a glass or glazing whose light transmission properties dynamically alter to control the passage of solar irradiation into buildings. In general, the glass chan ...

based on

electrochromism Electrochromism is a phenomenon in which a material displays changes in color or opacity in response to an electrical stimulus. In this way, a smart window made of an electrochromic material can block specific wavelengths of ultraviolet, visi ...

. Founded in 2007, the company is headquartered in

Milpitas, California Milpitas ( Spanish for "little milpas") is a city in Santa Clara County, California, in Silicon Valley. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 80,273. The city's origins lie in Rancho Milpitas, granted to Californio ranchero José ...

with a manufacturing facility in

Olive Branch, Mississippi Olive Branch is a city in DeSoto County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population is 39,711. Olive Branch is part of the Memphis Metropolitan Statistical Area, a region that consists of three counties in southwest Te ...

History

The company was co-founded in April 2007 by Paul Nguyen and Mike Scobey as eChromics, Based in

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa ( Spanish for " Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, in the North Bay region of the Bay Area in California. Its estimated 2019 population was 178,127. It is the largest city in California's Wine Country and ...

. The company was renamed Soladigm in October 2007, and appointed Rao Mulpuri as CEO in December 2008. The firm moved headquarters to Milpitas, California in a reconditioned Seagate Technology factory. In July 2010, the company announced its intent to start production from a new facility in Olive Branch, Mississippi. The same year, it was one of 12 winners of

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

's $200 million "Ecomagination Challenge." It received a $3.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy from the

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

. The company name was changed to View, Inc. in November 2012, and began shipping from its new factory near the end of the third quarter of 2012. In 2015, installing the glass at the new

Overstock Overstock, excessive stock, excess2sell, B-stock, or excess inventory, is the result of poor management of stock demand or of material flow in process management. Excessive stock is also associated with loss of revenue owing to additional capita ...

headquarters in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

. In 2013, Corning led an investment round of $60 million for View. Madrone Capital Partners invested $100 million in the company in January 2014. The company received $150 million in late-stage funding in 2015. Funding was led by the New Zealand Super Fund. In 2019, the OAA installed View Dynamic Glass at its headquarters.

Funding

In 2007, the company raised a Series A round of funding from Sigma Partners and

Khosla Ventures Khosla Ventures is an American venture capital firm founded by Vinod Khosla, focused on early-stage companies in the Internet, computing, mobile, financial services, agriculture, healthcare and clean technology sectors. Some of its most succe ...

, which later took over control of the company and received preferred shares. 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. In 2013, Corning led an investment round of $60 million for View. Madrone Capital Partners invested $100 million in the company in January 2014. The company received $150 million in late-stage funding in 2015. Funding was led by the New Zealand Super Fund. In June 2017, BlackRock led a $200 million investment in View, bringing total funding for the company to $700 million. In 2018, View, Inc. announced a $1.1 Billion investment from the

SoftBank Vision Fund The SoftBank Vision Fund is a venture capital fund founded in 2017 that is part of the SoftBank Group. With over $100 billion in capital, it is the world's largest technology-focused investment fund. In 2019, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 was founded ...

. In May 2022, View, Inc. announced that they may not have sufficient financial resources to meet it’s financial obligations for at least twelve months from the expected issuance date of its 2021 financial statements

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. 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. 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. The technology is designed to allow natural light to enter buildings while deflecting glare and infrared radiation when tinted. Each window pane adjusts its tint throughout the day, and has its own IP address allowing the windows to be controlled from an app. The intensity of the tint can be adjusted to control glare, direct sunlight coming in, and to modify privacy. By 2016, the company made panels that could be retrofitted as well as panels based on builders' specifications. In 2018, the firm partnered with Microsoft Azure IoT to develop a physical security system that notifies building managers when glass breaks.

Litigation

In January 2009, Nguyen was removed as CTO and fired the next month. He filed the suit against the company in January 2010, 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. 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". In Feb 2018, litigation reached a settlement after investor challenge, securing the company's capital structure; a proposal to amend Delaware's corporate law emerged from the difficult facts of the case. In December 2012,

SAGE Electrochromics SAGE Electrochromics, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Saint-Gobain, is a specialized window glass developer based in Faribault, Minnesota. The company develops electronically tintable smart glass (also called electrochromic glass, EC, or dy ...

filed a patent infringement suit against View; View counter-sued a few months later.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.viewglass.com/ 2006 establishments in California Companies based in Milpitas, California Technology companies established in 2006 Companies listed on the Nasdaq Glassmaking companies of the United States Technology companies of the United States Technology companies based in Greater Los Angeles Softbank portfolio companies