RFID News Roundup

TrueDemand Draws Second Funding Round
TrueDemand Software, a Los Gatos, Calif.-based provider of integrated sales and supply-chain solutions for retailers and suppliers, says it has closed an $8 million second round of funding, led by San Francisco-based CMEA Ventures. Mayfield, based in Menlo Park, Calif., and Bay Partners, located in Cupertino, Calif., also contributed to the round, as well as to the company's initial $6 million in funding. The company's funding totals $14 million, which it says it is using to "fuel ongoing development, marketing and sales of the company's suite of predictive sales and supply-chain applications for manufacturers and retailers." TrueDemand's software application uses algorithms combining EPC data from RFID tags and other data to predict sales and create demand forecasts.

Goliath Solutions Joins EPCglobal
Goliath Solutions says it has become a member of EPCglobal US, the U.S. branch of the organization driving the adoption of and standards for Electronic Product Code (EPC) technology. Chicago-based Goliath Solutions provides RFID-based system for tracking the use and effectiveness of in-store product displays, which is deployed at 500 retail outlets, including Walgreens stores. Goliath says it will install the system, which uses battery-assisted passive tags and has a longer read range than full passive tags, at more than 5500 retail locations by mid-2007. By joining EPCglobal, the company hopes to encourage the development of an EPC tag standard for semi-passive tags in order to increase their adoption. The company believes a semi-passive tag standard will help grow the market for its services.