Vkansee raises $10M to fund fingerprint sensor innovation

Vkansee has raised $10 million in additional funding from existing angel investors and other institutional investors, including Infotech Ventures, Yunnan Huizhong Fund, Shenzhen Qianhai Greatwall Fund and Superpix Micro Technology.

This latest round of funding brings its total invested capital to $12 million, which will help accelerate Vkansee’s growth, develop new products, and commercially mass produce and distribute its high resolution fingerprint sensor.

The funding will immediately support the production of test wafers for manufacturers and suppliers to evaluate the sensors for device integration in 2017.

The first 200 evaluation kits will be available for testing purposes in January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where Vkansee will also unveil a new prototype.

The capital raised will also fund research and development to improve biometric technology and commercialize follow-on IP.

Vkansee uses the unique methods of pin-hole imaging to capture fingerprints under-glass or further integrated with display screens to achieve design goals while making it easy to integrate biometrics into any device with a screen.

“Vkansee will continue to innovate and bring our novel pin-hole imaging techniques to more screens and devices in 2017,” Vkansee president Jason Chaikin said in an email statement. “We’re also unveiling a new prototype notebook at CES next month, along with some of our more sophisticated sensors that can scan through cover glass up to 3mm thick, creating new possibilities for secure biometric authentication.”

The company unveiled in February a new VK0208 under-glass optical sensor that scans fingerprint images at 2000 pixels per inch (PPI), which is four times the resolution of Apple and Samsung’s current sensors.

Vkansee’s sensors support third level feature recognition – capturing microscopic sweat pores, ridge textures, and other micro-features of the fingerprint – to provide more detailed scans for improved security and protection.

Previously reported, Precise Biometrics signed a commercial software license and distribution agreement with Vkansee for the licensing of Precise Biometrics’ algorithm solution for fingerprint recognition in mobile devices, Precise BioMatch Mobile.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  fingerprint biometrics  |  fingerprint sensor  |  investment  |  research and development  |  Vkansee