Inside Contactless raises euro10 million

Investee Company – Inside Contactless (France)

Investee Company Business Type – Semi-conductor company focused on the development of contactless products and markets

Type of Financing – Expansion

Equity Providers – Alta Berkeley Venture Partners, GIMV, NIF Ventures, Siparex Ventures, Vertex Funds

Equity Leader (Individual) – Tim Brown, Alta Berkeley Venture Partners

Debt Providers – N/A

Debt Type – N/A

Debt Leader (Individual) – N/A

Equity Amount – €10 million

Total Deal Value – €10 million

Other Advisors – N/A

Comments – Inside Contactless, formerly known as Inside Technologies, has secured an additional round of funding of €10 million. Existing shareholders Alta Berkeley Venture Partners and GIMV have contributed to a round which was largely backed by new investors such as the Japanese NIF Ventures, the Singaporean Vertex Funds and the French Siparex Ventures.

The new round of funding will enable France-based Inside Contactless to pursue expansion into North America and Asia. An initial priority of these proceedings is currently under way with Inside opening a sales and technical support office in Asia, and plans to set up a North American office by the end of the year.

Inside Contactless is a semi-conductor company focused on the development of contactless products and markets. In 2001 it experienced a 172 per cent revenue growth to €7.5 million – based on the sales of 10 million contactless chips. Inside has estimated a 10-15 per cent overall share of the 13.56 MHz contactless market, with the company aiming for a 20 per cent market share for 2002.

Vertex will be represented on the supervisory board of Inside by Remy de Tonnac, the former Gemplus chief executive officer for Asia Pacific and the Americas, who joined Vertex late last year and Siparex Ventures by Richard Vacher-Detourniere. Other board members are Alex Brabers from GIMV and Tim Brown from Alta Berkeley Venture Partners, chairman of the supervisory board.

Brown commented: “The company has ambitious objectives, a strong business model and the right financial backing to reach them.”