Privaris Secures $15.7 Million in Series A Funding
03 November, 2005
category: Biometrics, Contactless
Biometric security solution provider Privaris has secured its first round of institutional venture financing, a $15.7 million round led by Harbert Ventures Partners with participation from Noro-Moseley Partners, River Cities Capital Funds, SpaceVest Capital and Privaris’s existing investors.
November 1, 2005 –Charlottesville, VA –Privaris, Inc., a worldwide leader in wireless biometric technology, announced today that it has secured its first round of institutional venture financing. The $15.7 million round was led by Harbert Venture Partners with participation from Noro-Moseley Partners, River Cities Capital Funds, SpaceVest Capital and Privaris’s existing investors.
Privaris was founded in 2001 and has been funded to date by private individuals. The Series A round will be used to introduce the next generation of Privaris’s patented technology and provide for expanded sales and marketing activities. As a result of the funding, Wayne Hunter of Harbert Venture Partners, Steve Nussrallah of Noro-Moseley Partners, Ed McCarthy of River Cities Capital Funds and Ransom Parker of SpaceVest Capital have joined the Privaris Board of Directors.
The core of Privaris’s offering is a patented, wireless, keychain device that uses fingerprintbased biometrics to authenticate its user prior to releasing the information needed to perform a transaction. The fingerprint data is stored and processed only on the device and is never released so as to protect an individual’spersonal privacy. Applications include physical access control, logical access control, identity documents and financial transactions for a growing list of commercial and government customers and strategic partners.
“This funding is an important milestone for Privaris and provides the resources we need to take our company to the next level and to significantly enhance our position in the industry. It is also an endorsement of our approach to performing biometric authentication while still protecting personal privacy”, said Dr. Barry Johnson, President and CEO of Privaris.
“Two of the primary obstacles to broad adoption of biometrics have been cost and personal privacy,” stated Wayne Hunter, Managing Partner of Harbert Venture Partners, based in Richmond, Virginia. “Privaris’s core technology addresses both of these concerns directly, and has been validated by a number of influential strategic partners. In addition, the company’s solution is compatible with existing security systems, requiring little to no additional infrastructure investment. Privaris is recognized as a leading innovator in a market with tremendous growth potential and we are excited to partner with the Privaris team.”