International venture
capital firm Partech
International moved into the
biometric arena Friday,
backing Israeli startup
IDesia to the tune of $3
million.
IDesia's innovation lies in
its discovery of a new way
to identify people using
electro-physiological
signals.
The company has developed a
device that can collect the
minute electrical impulses
associated with the human
body. One only has to place
two fingers on two
conductors and the IDesia
software will identify the
person, the company said.
The company has partnered
with Aladdin Knowledge
Systems, a publicly held
security company, to bring
its product to market.
Biometrics has not yet lived
up to the hype it has
generated as a potential
solution for security. Cheap
systems can be easily
tricked and spoof-proof
systems become prohibitively
expensive.
Protecting Critical
Assets
Still, companies believe it
is worth it to protect the
most critical corporate
assets.
IMS Research predicts the
biometrics market will be
more than $1 billion in
2006. The Independent
analyst International
Biometric Group estimates
the market demand will
surpass $4.6 billion by
2008.
The promise of a better way
of implementing biometric
authentication continues to
attract investors and
innovators.
Among the companies getting
VC money is A4Vision, which
has been working on a
three-dimensional facial
scanner. It
raised $23.3 million since
its inception in 2001, with
its most recent round coming
from Menlo Ventures, Larry
Ellison's TAKO Ventures, and
the CIA's venture capital
arm: In-Q-Tel (see Next
Wave: Face Value).
Atrua, another startup, has
collected more than $25
million in venture
investment for its
fingerprint authentication
device. NeoCarta Ventures,
Nokia Venture Partners, and
Ericsson Venture Partners
all bet on its silicon
finger scanner as a way of
authenticating mobile phone
users.
Similar products have had
success with computer makers
and the companies that
created the technology got
support from VCs.
UPEK, for example, makes
finger scanners for Lenovo
and Sony laptops. It has
collected more than $20
million from VCs such as
Sofinnova, the Partners
Group, EDBV, Diamond Head
Ventures, and Earlybird
Venture Capital.
UPEK's competitor, Authentec,
which supplies a similar
authentication device to
Toshiba, has raised $63.5
million. Its money comes
from Harris Semiconductor,
China Development Industrial
Bank, Knickerbocker,
Stonehenge Capital,
Advantage Capital, Texas
Instruments, Sierra
Ventures, and The Carlyle
Group.
