This article was originally published by RFID Update.
March 12, 2009—This week’s RFID news roundup won’t read like the recent issues of The Wall Street Journal — it actually contains some good financial news. Two companies reported increased annual revenues and another received fresh capital while also attaining good growth, though not all the financial news was good.
- GlobeRanger received $8.3 million in Series C venture funding from a mix of old and new investors, the company announced this week. GlobeRanger plans to use the money for product and business development in the government, aerospace, defense and industrial markets. The company noted it achieved 40 percent annual growth the past two years.
- I.D. Systems of Hackensack, New Jersey, increased full-year revenues by 58 percent for the year ended December 31, 2008. The company, which specializes in solutions for tracking industrial vehicles and other assets, posted annual revenue of $27.0 million and a net loss of $4.2 million. See the earnings release.
- Traverse City, Michigan-based Versus Technology grew its first quarter revenues 13 percent over the year-earlier period to $1.6 million, the privately-held company reported.
- Sirit, headquartered in Toronto (results in $ Canadian) reported full-year revenues of $19.8 million, a sharp drop from the company’s record revenues of $24.7 million in 2007. The 2008 totals include revenue from RSI ID Technologies, which Sirit acquired last April (see Sirit to Acquire RSI ID Technologies). Sirit posted a $3.3 million net loss for fiscal 2008 and ended the year with $3.3 million in cash.
- Digital Angel, whose viability was questioned last year (see Implantable RFID Business ‘Not Self-Sustainable’), today reported it generated $1.5 million in cash flow from operations for the fiscal year. See the company’s complete 8-K filing here.
- RF Code of Austin, Texas, announced Asset Manager, a turnkey system of software, active RFID tags and readers for tracking assets in data center, office and industrial environments.
- XIO Strategies won a contract to provide passive RFID technology and Unique Item Identification (UID) consulting service for the U.S. Army’s Future Combat Systems (FCS) program. The Wright Brothers Institute and Alien Technology’s RFID Solutions Center in Dayton, Ohio, will also be involved in the project. See the announcement.
- International standards body ISO has introduced a new standard for tagging shipping containers. Called ISO/TS 10891:2009, Freight containers — Radio frequency identification (RFID) — License plate, the new standard defines specifications and testing procedures to ensure the proper functioning of a container RFID tag. More details are in the announcement.
- The New Hampshire state government held a hearing on RFID regulation. Representatives from Winco ID participated and posted this summary.
- Mitsubishi will resell Omni-ID’s specialty RFID tags and services in Asia, giving the California startup a significant distribution channel in the region (see RFID Tag Demand Helps Omni-ID Net $15M in Funding).
Following is the previous RFID Update coverage from this week:
- Chinese RFID giant Invengo is going small in its entry to the North American market — small prices, small staff and a gradual buildup of activity (see Newcomer Brings New RFID Cost Model to North America).
- Exclusive RFID Update research found fewer firms are recognized as brand leaders in the RFID industry. Two firms are closely ranked as the best-known RFID brands, two more enjoy good recognition, but few others are seen as leaders (see Leading RFID Brands Stronger Now Than Ever).
- A firm that is trying to improve personal safety by using temperature sensors and RFID to monitor people for signs of heat stroke is about to release its first product. Football players may be the first to use the new system from HotHead Sports, but the technology may be available soon for firefighters, soldiers and those who where hard hats
(see Cooler Heads Prevail with RFID-enabled Helmets).
