Next Biometrics attracts $14.78M investment from Swedish investors

Next Biometrics announced it has drawn an investment of 120 million Norwegian crowns (US$14.78 million) from Greenbridge Partners, a firm founded by Swedish investors Melker Schorling and Ola Rollen, according to a report by Reuters.

The news caused Next Biometrics’ shares to sharply rise by 64 percent, early Friday morning.

“Greenbridge Partners Ltd has undertaken a thorough process before making the investment decision,” Next said in a statement.

Schorling’s investment company Melker Schorling AB holds a major stakes in various companies, including measurement technology and software firm Hexagon, lock maker Assa Abloy and security provider Securitas.

Ola Rollen, CEO at Hexagon, also owns a big stake in Next’s Swedish peer Fingerprint Cards.

He told Reuters that “Next has a fantastic opportunity to become a big player within smartcards,” partly because the company’s thermal technology is less brittle than the silicon wafers used by its competitors — an important characteristic when considering credit cards need to be able to bend.

Next will hold a meeting with shareholders to approve the planned issue of two million shares at a price of 60 crowns (US $7.39) each.

Previously reported, Next Biometrics issued its financial report for the second quarter of 2015, in which the company’s net loss increased to 24.5 million NOK (US$3 million) compared to 19.6 million NOK in the same period last year.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  fingerprint sensors  |  fingerprint technology  |  investment  |  Next Biometrics  |  smartcards  |  Sweden