CLEVELAND, OH – NineSigma, Inc. (“NineSigma”), a leading provider of open innovation solutions to industry, announced today that it has secured a US$1.5 million venture loan from MMV Financial Inc. This is MMV’s first investment in the State of Ohio.
"MMV offered an effective funding plan that will help NineSigma meet its aggressive growth targets,” said Paul Stiros, President and Chief Executive Officer of NineSigma. "MMV was responsive to our needs and quickly understood the opportunity that exists in the area of Open Innovation.”
NineSigma was launched in 2000 to leverage the revolution in Open Innovation. Open Innovation is the growing discipline of companies going outside their own R&D and Engineering departments in an effort to leverage the thousands of independent inventors, university researchers and scientists into solutions that can be quickly and cost effectively implemented to solve current problems. NineSigma’s staff of PhD’s works with Global 1000 companies to identify innovation opportunities within their organization and develops Request For Proposals (RFPs) around these problems. NineSigma sends the RFPs to scientists, innovators and innovation alliances around the world to find a ready solution to these innovation opportunities.
NineSigma works with industry-leading companies such as P&G, Dupont, Kraft, and Unilever and is backed by Blue Chip Venture Company based in Cincinnati, Ohio. In addition, the Company recently announced the formation of NineSigma Japan, a subsidiary of NineSigma, Inc. with a sales and operations office in Tokyo. NineSigma has been expanding its worldwide network of corporate clients and solution providers to meet the growing global demand for managed innovation services. This new subsidiary will help NineSigma support its customer base with accelerated delivery of world-class technical solutions.
“We are excited by the opportunity in this emerging market,” said Ron Patterson, Executive Vice President, MMV Financial Inc. “NineSigma offers a unique solution in an area validated by innovation giants such as P&G. We believe the Company has the right team and domain knowledge to successfully execute on this opportunity.”
About NineSigma
NineSigma partners with Global 1000 companies to transform their innovation capabilities by connecting them with the very best innovators from around the world. NineSigma’s proprietary process for Open Innovation enables companies to dramatically improve speed to market while lowering product development costs and reducing risk in decision making. NineSigma’s open network of innovators is the largest of its kind and spans industries, geographies, and technical disciplines. Companies across industry verticals engage NineSigma to build new innovation capabilities that leverage research and innovation globally to deliver greater value to their customers. For more information, visit http://www.ninesigma.com/.
About MMV Financial Inc.
MMV Financial is a Toronto-based specialty finance company providing creative debt solutions directly to technology and life sciences companies across North America. MMV is backed by top U.S. and Canadian private equity firms and financial institutions including CCP Equity Partners, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, NewStar Financial, Inc., and Wells Fargo Company. For more information, visit http://www.mmvf.com.
For additional information:
Bronwyn Monroe
NineSigma, Inc.
216-295-4800
monroe@ninesigma.com
Ron Patterson
MMV Financial Inc.
416-977-9718
rpatterson@mmvf.com