Portland: Portland based company, VendScreen which produces Android-based touchscreen for vending machines, has secured $12 million in investment. The funds would be used to build the ream and scale the company. It is in the process of leasing office space in both Portland and Seattle.

Talking about the VC interest in the company, Paresh Patel, Founder & CEO, VendScreen says, “VendScreen is literally at the intersection of cutting edge technology that the VC community normally invests in. We are integrating M2M infrastructure, digital media, mobile computing, software-as-a-service (SaaS), cashless payments, and consumer engagement into one streamlined package with a revolutionary business model. We bring technology and access to a huge number of consumers, which together is an opportunity that VCs can invest in.”

The company works with its staff as contractors, and has 40 contractors working for it. It also plans to bring more people in-house. Talking about the demand for the products, Patel says, “We are in an unusual place with regards to the demand for our services. The demand is far exceeding our capacity and we are just trying to get to scale as fast as we can.”

The company estimates that there are over five million vending machines in U.S., and over 15 million world-wide, but estimates that only five percent of the machines in the U.S. are connected, so there is a huge opportunity to connect machines. The benefits of a connected machine are undeniable. Yet, the industry has not kept pace with the general consumer marketplace in part due to cost and in part due to the lack of an integrated solution. It has a patent-pending solution that solves real problems for the operators at a cost they can afford.

“We have five competitors in the space, but they have all approached the industry with the same approach. We have created an Android-based computing platform for the machines and provided all the features through custom apps. What is neat about this approach is not only can we do what everyone else offers, but we develop new features and think of ways to improve the consumer experience, we can simply update the devices over-the-air. No need to change any hardware or do anything. It updates automatically,” adds Patel.

The company was founded in 2011 by Patel and Glenn Butler. Prior to founding VendScreen, Patel had founded Courtesy Vending. He pursued his Bachelor of Science degree from Portland State University and holds an MBA from the University of Washington. He also holds a Ph.D. from Capella University. Patel is also the Chairman of the Board of the Pacific Northwest Federal Credit Union.