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Gates-backed Evolv emerges from Intellectual Ventures

The company recently closed an investment round worth $11.8 million, thanks to help from Bill Gates and Lux Capital, among others.

Don Reisinger
CNET contributor Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has covered everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Besides his work with CNET, Don's work has been featured in a variety of other publications including PC World and a host of Ziff-Davis publications.
Don Reisinger
Bill Gates
Bill Gates Microsoft

Intellectual Ventures announced on Thursday that a company it helped grow and that has received investment from Bill Gates, among others, is going out on its own.

Evolv Technologies has been spun off from Intellectual Ventures and is now under the leadership of security industry veteran Mike Ellenbogen. The move comes after Evolv raised $11.8 million in a funding round led by Microsoft founder Gates, Lux Capital, and other investors.

Evolv Technologies aims to commercialize imaging and detection technology for airports. More specifically, the company is focused on detecting so-called "metamaterials" -- materials that have properties not found in nature. Evolv believes the technology could improve security in high-risk areas.

Evolv is the second company to use Intellectual Ventures' metamaterials patents to commercialize a service. The first, Kymeta, was spun out of Intellectual Ventures in 2012.