INSIDE Contactless Secures $25 Million in New Funding
07 September, 2006
category: Contactless, Financial, NFC
Contactless and NFC solution provider INSIDE Contactless has announced the closure of a new funding round of $25 million led by Granite Ventures. INSIDE plans on using the new round to help drive the growth of their contactless payment and NFC business lines.
New Round Helps Accelerate the Growth of INSIDE’s Contactless Payment and NFC Business Lines
Aix en Provence, France, September 5th 2006 – INSIDE Contactless, a world leader for contactless semiconductor chips, announces today that it has closed a new funding round of $25 million led by Granite Global Ventures (GGV). The other new investor for this round was EuroUs Venture. Current investors who contributed to half of the total amount of this round led by Sofinnova Partners, now the largest shareholder, include Vertex Venture Capital, Vertex Management, GIMV, and Siparex Ventures.
This funding will allow INSIDE Contactless to further expand its sales and marketing presence in Asia and the United States. It will also reinforce INSIDE’s research and development efforts, and accelerate new product introduction across the company’s two major business lines in Payment and NFC (Near Field Communication).
“We are excited to invest in the leading technology provider for NFC and contactless payments. These markets are poised to take off and see very significant opportunities in Asia for INSIDE going forward, and we will support the company with our presence and strong connexions in the region”, comments Mr Lee Kheng Nam, Venture Partner from Granite Global Ventures.
Jean Schmitt, Managing Partner at Sofinnova Partners states: “INSIDE has what it takes to succeed, financial strengths, management talent, and a booming market, all the components to build end to end solutions, strong IP, strong syndicate of supportive investors. We expect the company to lead the explosion of contactless applications.”
“This latest round of funding with top names of the Venture Capital industry further validate INSIDE’s vision, technology, and ability to capitalize on the market opportunities that we’ve been pioneering in the last few years,” said Remy de Tonnac, CEO of INSIDE Contactless. “The contactless payment and NFC markets are on the verge of exponential growth, and today’s funding will allow INSIDE to further reinforce its leadership.”
“We have tested INSIDE’s technology and have been impressed by the company’s undeniable expertise” said Laurent Jullien, Director of Contactless and Payment Services from Bouygues Telecom. “We believe that INSIDE’s NFC chipset is likely to become a major component in the evolution of mobile phones and mobile services. In addition, its financial backing from major venture capital players, makes it even more convincing.”
In 2005, INSIDE raised $10.6 million from Sofinnova, Vertex Venture Capital, GIMV, Siparex Ventures, and Visa International. The funding helped business expansion into key growth markets for contactless and mobile Near Field Communication (NFC).
INSIDE’s MicroPass™, microprocessor-based contactless chip platform, enables consumers to make purchases by simply waving their contactless credit and debit cards past a secure reader. INSIDE’s chipsets require low power and deliver optimum read distance – to facilitate a fast transaction speed and a consistent user experience. This technology supports all major global RF standards and is available for use in a variety of card, and other form factors.
INSIDE’s Near Field Communication (NFC)-based technology enables mobile devices to behave as both readers, and cards. Once fully deployed, this technology will enable consumers to complete numerous “contactless” transactions – such as: paying for purchases; redeeming coupons; obtaining receipts; buying e-tickets; passing through gates in transit systems; gaining access to secure buildings; or logging onto computers – simply by waiving their mobile phones past a secure reader.
INSIDE’s board members include Alex Brabers from GIMV, Jean Schmitt from Sofinnova Partners, Robert Genieser from Vertex Venture Capital, Lee Kheng Nam from Granite Global Venture (GGV) as well as GGV’s Managing Director Scott Bonham as a board observer and Patrick Jones as an independent Director.
Near Field Communications News and InsightExplore more developments dealing with the implementation of Near Field Communications, a short-range wireless technology that promises to revolutionize contactless identification, payment, access, and more. Click to visit NFCNews.
