PCH International, Gadget Maker Extraordinaire, Raises Another $26 Million

PCH International isn’t your normal Chinese manufacturing company. They’re located in Shenzhen, a sleepy fishing village in the 1970’s that is now home to 9 million people. It’s an Irish company, headquartered in Cork, Ireland. And to make things even more interesting, it was named after the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), in California. Founder Liam Casey has been dubbed “Mr. China” – as a Westerner he has a competitive advantage in dealing with U.S. and European brands trying to figure out how to make stuff in China.

The company designs, produces and packages electronics and accessories in partnership with major gadget brands. Revenue has skyrocketed, from next to nothing a few years ago to $400 million last year. And they are extremely profitable, says Casey. If you’re a gadget freak, there’s a good chance something they’ve made is in your pocket or on your desk.

PCH is backed by U.S. venture capitalists. They raised $21 million in 2008 from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Norwest Venture Partners and Focus Ventures.

Now they’ve taken $26 million more from those same investors. And two new investors have joined this round as well – Triangle Peak Partners and Cross Creek Capital.

Why raise more capital when the company is already so profitable? Casey says the Chinese domestic market is growing at a very fast pace, and he needs to expand to meet this new demand. “We’re opening new facilities to serve the Chinese domestic market,” he said with his crazy-unintelligible Cork accent.