3M Makes Investment in San Bruno-Based Technology Company

3M’s New Ventures group recently announced that it is investing in Pixel Qi Corp., a San-Bruno based company that makes next-generation LCD panels that use less energy and can be easily viewed in sunlight.

The amount of the investment from 3M, the materials maker, wasn’t disclosed. But the funding is expected to play a key role in helping Pixel Qi develop products for the digital signage markets and for touch-screen devices.

According to ZDNet, Pixel Qi (the “qi” is pronounced “chee”), founded in 2008 by Mary Lou Jepsen with offices also in Taiwan, sees the mobile market as a lucrative one for its display technology.

"Pixel Qi's full-function color screen technology, for the first time, gives consumers an outdoor-readable video display with exceptional battery life, usable anywhere, anytime,” Jepsen said in a statement. “In our collaboration with 3M, we have the ability to accelerate this into mass adoption."