Samsung Ventures invest in INSIDE Contactless

Extending its previously announced series C funding round, INSIDE Contactless has added Samsung Ventures America to its active investor community, which now includes the world's top three handset manufacturers.

Samsung Ventures' participation builds upon investments from Nokia Growth Partners, Motorola Ventures and other institutional investors, providing a total of nearly $42m (€28m) to allow the company to accelerate its international presence and broaden its product portfolio.

“The participation of the top three global handset manufacturers in this round of funding is a ringing endorsement of INSIDE's leadership in the emerging near field communication market, and gives us a strategic advantage with the key players in the industry,” says Rémy de Tonnac, CEO, INSIDE Contactless. “As the NFC market progresses, we are hopeful that these partnerships will prove invaluable in propelling us forward to power the NFC revolution and extend our leadership.”

According to a recent report from ABI Research, NFC chipset shipments and revenue will continue to grow steadily over the next five years, with over 419m NFC chipsets shipping in 2012, amounting to total market revenue of $406m.

“We are optimistic about NFC technology's ability to bring exciting new payment and other applications to mobile handsets, and INSIDE's leadership in moving this market forward is impressive,” comments Brian Kang, MD, Samsung Ventures America. “Our investment expresses our confidence in INSIDE's ability to continue its success not only in the contactless payment market but also in the emerging NFC technology for mobile phones.”

INSIDE, together with other industry leaders, was instrumental in developing the ETSI NFC-related standard (MPW 113), with the result that INSIDE now enjoys early implementation of these standards. The MicroRead IC is the first NFC chip to be both SIM- and SE-friendly.

Samsung Ventures America joins existing investors which include Motorola Ventures, Nokia Growth Partners, HID Global, Sofinnova Partners, Vertex Management, Vertex Ventures, Siparex, GIMV, EuroUS Venture, Granite Global Ventures and Visa Ventures.