 | Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Issue 994 | | Will Smith, Editor |  |
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Editor's Note: Today's top story is RFID infrastructure software provider GlobeRanger's recent Series C round of funding to the tune of $8.3 million.
The Netherlands' SMARTRAC has released its financial results for 2008. The company's gross sales grew 16 percent to EUR 112.3 million, though the company indicates that the macroeconomic climate had an adverse effect on its business. In particular, the demand for US electronic passport inlays dropped 40 percent as budget-conscious consumers and corporations cut travel.
Active RFID technology provider Hi-G-Tek of Rockville, Maryland, announced that it has won a subcontract from government contractor Unisys to supply active RFID equipment and services for the recent RFID III award. Unisys was one of four prime contractors to be selected for the indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract from the US Army.
Lastly, Innovision's Topaz NFC tags will be included with the new Nokia 6212 classic, a mobile phone being distributed by mobilkom austria to Austrian consumers. According to Innovision it is the first time in 2009 that a mobile operator has distributed the NFC tags prepackaged with a mobile phone. |
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RFID Software Provider GlobeRanger Raises $8.3M
By Brian Albright
RFID infrastructure software provider GlobeRanger announced last week that it had obtained $8.3 million during its Series C funding round.
Current investors Sevin Rosen and CenterPoint Ventures, along with several new investors, provided the cash, which GlobeRanger says will be used to accelerate the company's product and business development activities.
According to Baldev Nair, GlobeRanger's vice president of marketing and product management, this is expected to be the last round of funding. "This new funding was to make an accelerated push into the market," Nair said.
He added that the company is running what he describes as a "break-even operation," and that the last few quarters have been positive. "What we're trying to do is get to that position for an entire year, and we think 2009 will be it," he said.
The company, which now has 25 employees, also reported 40 percent growth in revenues in 2007 and 2008, and a compound annual growth rate of 79 percent over five years. This growth was due, in part, to an aggressive cost-cutting program that began in 2007 and GlobeRanger's focus on relatively stable markets such as defense and aerospace.
"We were taking expenses out, so when the actual downturn did happen, we were pretty well prepared for it," Nair said. "While we had been looking at other markets such as CPG and healthcare, we were not convinced they were ripe yet. This round of funding was to say, 'We found our focus, let's double down and push hard on these areas.'"
Both Sevin Rosen and CenterPoint used this round to convert outstanding bridge loans into equity. "They provided some temporary loans because we needed assistance with cash flow," Nair said. "Those loans have now been converted into equity. That has cleansed our balance sheet of that debt, plus provided new money to help us grow."
In addition to focusing on asset tracking, inventory management and supply chain management applications in its core markets, GlobeRanger plans to increase its focus on building end user solutions that will bundle applications with the appliance product the company announced last year (see Appliance Developed to Support Large RFID Deployments).
Nair expects the company to continue its strong level of growth in 2009, despite the economic downturn. "Most of our revenue comes from government projects, and the dynamics of operating on that side of the market are very different," he said. "There is greater predictability in that market."
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