June 8, 2002 –Savi Technology, a Sunnyvale, Calif., provider of RFID devices and software for the management and security of supply chain assets, has formed a strategic partnership with SembCorp Logistics Ltd., a Singaporean logistics company. The move gives Savi a powerful means to further penetrate the Asian market.
The two companies have been cooperating for more than a year, according to Stephen Lambright, Savi’s VP of marketing. Singapore is home to one of the world’s largest container ports, and the port authority there has long been at the forefront of efficiency and security. SembLog sees Savi’s products as a way to build on that reputation.
SembLog specializes in handling fast-moving consumer goods, electronic goods, parts and components, hazardous goods, chemicals and healthcare products. It operates a network that covers 10 countries, including Singapore, China, Hong Kong, India, Thailand, Malaysia and Australia. The company will work with Savi to develop new products based on Savi’s technology.
“They are looking at taking our applications and extending them for their individual customers, almost like a value added reseller,” says Savi’s Lambright.
One solution SembLog is interested in is providing customers with real-time information about the amount of goods in transit. Savi’s system will also help the logistics company offer fast-track service through customs. Since containers can be inspected and sealed electronically with Savi’s e-seals, customs officials can quickly see whether the container has been opened or tampered with.
This is the first strategic partnership that Savi has announced. Others are in the works, according to Lambright. “There are a number of other strategic partners that we will announce over the next couple of months,” he says. “Savi is creating the core technologies that will be enhanced and extended by our partners.”
In addition to the partnership, Savi announced that SembLog is investing US$10 million in Savi as part of its Series C round of funding. SembCorp Industries, Singapore’s largest engineering and construction contractor, which owns 62 percent of Semblog, is investing US$5 million in Savi.
The new investments increase the amount raised by Savi Technology in its Series C round to US$35 million, and boosts the total amount it has raised since its management buyout in May of 1999 to $93 million. The company now has approximately US$40 million in cash reserves.
Savi says the money will be used to accelerate implementation of a new generation of hardware and inter-linked software products providing real-time security and management of supply chain assets such as rail cars, truck trailers, ocean-going and intermodal containers, air cargo containers and other conveyances. Savi says it expects to achieve profitability around year’s end.