PCH International Secures $21 Million in Venture Capital Funding from Lightspeed, Norwest Venture Partners and Focus Ventures

CORK, Ireland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PCH international, a global supply chain services firm, announced today that it has received $21 million in venture funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) and Focus Ventures, three leading venture capital firms based in the Silicon Valley.

“PCH addresses a large and rapidly growing market opportunity in comprehensive supply chain management for a range of technology industries. Given the company’s strong track record in doing business with major top-tier customers, we believe PCH is poised to be the dominant player in this segment.”

The funding will be used to accelerate the growth of the company by expanding its sales and marketing operations in the U.S. and Europe, broadening its service capabilities within China and South East Asia, and enhancing its IT infrastructure and systems. The partnership with the new investors will also provide PCH with access to potential new clients, particularly in its core market of the US.

PCH was founded in Cork, Ireland in 1996 and currently has its operations headquarters in Shenzhen, China. Since 2005, the company has successfully transitioned from being an electronic component sourcing operation to a business that provides full supply chain management services. It services a range of global customers within the consumer electronics, personal computer, medical devices, telecom and other technology industries.

PCH’s range of services substantially reduces its clients’ time to market, front-end inventory requirements and working capital needs. The company’s client roster includes some of the leading consumer brand companies in North America, Europe, Asia and South America. PCH currently employs 700 people in Ireland, China, Singapore, the U.K., the U.S., Brazil and South Africa.

“Over the past decade, consumer electronics devices have become more sophisticated, product life cycles have shortened, and consumer taste has changed rapidly. Product companies are increasingly demanding greater speed and flexibility in their supply chains, shorter-term lower-volume product commitments and the ability to personalise and custom-configure their products and packaging. PCH capitalises on this trend by offering flexible contract manufacturing capacity, and increased transparency resulting in the ability of its clients to develop, launch and deliver products faster,” said Liam Casey, CEO, PCH International.

According to Eric O’Brien, Managing Director of Lightspeed Venture Partners, the lead investor in this funding round, “PCH addresses a large and rapidly growing market opportunity in comprehensive supply chain management for a range of technology industries. Given the company’s strong track record in doing business with major top-tier customers, we believe PCH is poised to be the dominant player in this segment.”

“PCH held tremendous investment appeal for Norwest Venture Partners not only for its market leadership in pioneering the asset-light model for outsourced CE product design, manufacturing, and fulfillment, but also for its complementary fit with NVP’s existing portfolio companies in outsourced software development and semiconductor design services. We see PCH as a logical evolution of the value-added outsourcing model proven by industry leaders such as Li & Fung, Persistent Systems, and Open-Silicon,” said Tim Chang, principal, Norwest Venture Partners.

About PCH

PCH International is an integrated specialist supply chain services firm serving the consumer electronics, personal computer, medical devices, telecom and other industries worldwide. Based in Shenzhen, China PCH offers end-to-end supply chain management services, from product concept and design, to manufacturing, to final consumer. PCH was founded in Cork, Ireland in 1996 by Liam Casey, who was voted Ireland’s Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2007.

About Focus Ventures

Focus Ventures, located in Palo Alto, California, was founded in 1997 and currently has over $830 million under management. Focus Ventures invests in privately held, expansion stage technology companies that have previously received backing from a leading early stage venture capital firm.

About Lightspeed Venture Partners

Lightspeed Venture Partners is a leading global venture capital firm with over $2 billion of committed capital under management. Lightspeed’s investment professionals and advisors are located in Silicon Valley, China, India and Israel. Over the past two decades, the Lightspeed team has backed more than 150 companies, many of which have become leaders in their respective markets, including Blue Nile, Brocade, Calista, Ciena, DoubleClick, eHealth, Galileo Technology, Growth Networks, Informatica, Kiva Software, LightLogic, Maker Communications, Metasolv, Openwave, Quantum Effect Devices, Riverbed, Sirocco, Virsa Systems and Waveset.

About Norwest Venture Partners

Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) is a global venture capital firm that has actively partnered with entrepreneurs to build great businesses for more than 45 years. NVP focuses on investments in information technology including: software, services, enterprise and communications systems, semiconductor/components and Internet, media and consumer. The firm currently manages more than $2.5 billion in venture capital. It has offices in Palo Alto, California, Mumbai and Bangalore. NVP has funded over 450 companies in the U.S. since inception, as well as several direct investments in India, Israel and China and more than 20 cross border companies.