GigaPan, winding down, sells its robotic camera business and pays off debts

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GigaPan's robotic cameras could capture hundreds or thousands of high-resolution images, enabling online viewers to zoom in to images for remarkable detail of Mount Everest, New York City or Trail Blazer games.

(Jamie Francis/The Oregonian)

GigaPan, a Portland company that enabled remarkably vivid images by stitching together hundreds or thousands of high-resolution photos, said Monday that it's sold off the hardware side of the business as it works to salvage what's left of its technology.

Spun off in 2008 by NASA and Carnegie Mellon University, GigaPan's tools produced astounding images of sporting events, Mount Everest and, for Time magazine earlier this year, a remarkable panoramic image of the view from atop 1 World Trade Center in New York.

But GigaPan ran out of money late last year, laying off nearly all of its two-dozen employees and essentially shutting down.

Creditors soon came calling – Multnomah County court filings show creditors filed a $274,000 claim against GigaPan and co-founder Henry Hillman Jr. in June, seeking to collect on a loan guaranteed by the company and Hillman, who is the son of a billionaire steel industrialist from Pittsburgh. Filings indicate Hillman had personally guaranteed the loan.

Court records show that GigaPan and Hillman did not respond to the creditors' complaint, which found them in default in September. The company said Monday that it has paid off the debt, drawing in part on proceeds from its hardware sale, and an attorney for the creditor confirms the payment.

GigaPan has sold the rights to make and distribute its robotic camera mounts, which photographers use to create their immense collage of images. The buyer is a Maryland photo equipment company called OmegaBrandess, which plans to manufacture the cameras at its office in Maryland. The companies did not disclose terms of the deal.

GigaPan retained its software and image-hosting business. Jason Larson, who is serving as chief executive, said the sale of the hardware will provide enough cash to stabilize that part of the company until it can find a buyer.

"From the conversations I'm having, I don't see us operating as a standalone product," Larson said.

GigaPan is owned by multiple investors, according to Larson, including Hillman and Carnegie Mellon. Although GigaPan is foundering, Larson said he expects the technology will endure.

"Whoever gets it next is really going to make it big," he said. "I'm just not sure it's going to be us."

-- Mike Rogoway; twitter: @rogoway; 503-294-7699

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