This article was originally published by RFID Update.
March 12, 2007—Specialty RFID tag manufacturer Confidex today announced its first round of institutional funding in the form of €5 million (roughly $6.6 million). Lead investor Logispring, a Swiss venture capital firm focused on opportunities in industrial processes, logistics, and manufacturing, was joined by Finland’s Aura Capital.
Based in Nokia, Finland, Confidex designs and manufacturers both high frequency and ultrahigh frequency RFID tags for supply chain, aerospace, automotive, and petrochemical. The company is headed by Timo Lindström, one-time CEO of Rafsec (now UPM Raflatac), a highly-regarded inlay manufacturer also headquartered in Finland. Lindström and other members of Confidex management have worked together for almost a decade. Founded in September 2005 (see Startup Offers Outsourced Tag Production), the company points to high performance combined with ease of manufacture as a key competitive differentiator. It will use the funding to build out sales and manufacturing capabilities.
Confidex last grabbed headlines in August when it announced a contract with China’s Guangshen Railway Company to supply 125 million RFID-based contactless transport tickets over five years, a deal that Confidex indicated was both the largest RFID ticket order and one of the largest RFID tag orders ever. The Guangshen Railway Company decided to adopt RFID in favor of its existing barcode ticketing system in order to curb counterfeiting and increase passenger convenience. Confidex established a Chinese subsidiary to service the contract and potential new business from other transport companies in China that are expected to follow Guangshen Railway’s lead. (For more, see HF RFID Market Sees High Growth and 125m Order.)
Confidex’s funding is just the latest in a recent spate of investment in the RFID and RTLS space. On Wednesday, semiconductor and RFID chip and reader manufacturer Impinj announced $19 million in a fifth round of funding (see Impinj Secures $19m to Pursue Item-Level RFID). The week prior, WiFi-based active RFID and RTLS provider AeroScout announced $21 million in Series C funding. And in January, AeroScout competitor WhereNet was snapped up by Zebra Technologies for $126 million in cash (see Zebra Acquires Active RFID Provider WhereNet).
Read the announcement from Confidex