Zwipe Raises $14M For Biometric Payment Cards

Zwipe, the biometrics payment company, has raised $14 million in venture funding, reported TechCrunch.

According to a report in TechCrunch, citing Zwipe, the funding came the way of a Series B round which was raised by an offering of 6 million new shares. According to TechCrunch about 2,300 investors participated ahead of a listing on Merkur Market, Oslo Bors. Zwipe told TechCrunch the offering was oversubscribed by a substantial amount. It expects trading to kick off on or around Jan. 28, according to the report. The company has a pre-money valuation of $22 million, noted TechCrunch.

Zwipe Chief Executive Andre Lovestam said in a statement about the funding that the company is “at the forefront of a global shift towards more secure and convenient contactless payments and the market is primed for growth.” He said the company is confident that it will emerge as an industry leader and will secure a strong market position.

The company will use the funding to commercialize its technology, which embeds a fingerprint reader in payment plastic for added security. “We are not commercially rolled out yet, we expect that to happen in the second half of this year, starting first in Europe and potentially in the Middle East,” a spokesman told TechCrunch, noting the financing will be used to beef up the company as it gets ready for a commercial launch of its biometric payment card solution in the second half of this year.

The spokesman told TechCrunch the company is looking at other form factors in the future, including wearables. The company is targeting 2020 for expanding into other markets and devices.

“Our technology is currently deployed in pilot programs in Italy, with Intesa Sanpaolo Bank and with 10 different banks across the Middle East,” the spokesman told  TechCrunch. “We have active partnerships globally. In APAC, specifically China and the Philippines, we expect to launch further trials in the near term. In Europe, we have piloted with the Bank of Cyprus and expect to launch several more trials in Europe in the first half of 2019.”