Smit Holdings Ltd., a Hong Kong-based maker of mobile payment terminals and security devices for pay television, has increased its investment in U.S.-based startup firm Sensel Inc. by $5 million through a purchase of preferred stock.

Following the new stock purchase, Smit Holdings owns about 9.22 percent of Sensel, according to a press release. At the same time a $2 million promissory note issued by Sensel, and subscribed by Smit in February, was deemed converted into preferred shares of the company.

Sensel is a U.S. startup specializing in next-generation touch technology and is developing a system, called PressureGrid, with plans to incorporate the technology into smartphones and laptops, according to the release.

Smit president Shuai Hongyu said the new investment will "consolidate the group’s leading position in the IC-based security industry" adding that Sensel's technology "is in line with the group’s development and expansion strategy,"  according to the release.