Yinda Infocomm invests in TECH5 biometrics and buys InterBio to expand Asian reach

Tech5 has received a $2.5M investment from Yinda Infocomm via a loan convertible into shares in return for a preferential licencing agreement to distribute its biometric technology for digital ID in China and Japan, and Yinda has also acquired Singapore-based Tech5 partner International Biometrics.

The companies signed the investment agreement during a virtual ceremony on Monday, marking the first external investment for Tech5, which has so far been fully self-financed from proceeds from its biometrics projects worldwide.

“Yinda’s investment and trust put into our company is proof and confirmation of TECH5’s technology leadership and endorsement of our growth prospects,” says Tech5 Co-founder and CEO Machiel van der Harst.

The partnership with Tech5 will now provide Yinda Infocomm with a preferential licensing agreement to distribute and utilize Tech5’s biometric technology solutions in Asia.

“We see synergies and leverage the strengths to take a larger market share and are looking forward to working with [Yinda Infocomm] in markets like China and Japan,” van der Harst adds.

Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, Tech5 focuses on the development and distribution of biometrics-driven Identity Management solutions.

“While we concentrate on keeping our biometric algorithms and platform in the top tier, we are using our heritage in biometrics, applying experience and technology to a new, disruptive kind of mobile ID,” explains Tech5 Co-founder and CTO Rahul Parthe.

“Unique in the market, [our solution] allows you to verify someone’s identity biometrically in a totally offline manner, with or without a smartphone,” he adds.

The new funds will now enable Tech5 to expand the reach and development efforts of its biometric platform further.

“This investment will allow us to extend our research to share the latest and greatest AI-based products with our customers,” Parthe concludes.

Tech5 has been growing steadily in 2020, partnering with Innovatiview on biometrics-based examination ID solution in India, and naming industry veteran Rob Haslam as Strategic Advisor for a new biometric platform.

More recently, the company has made its T5-Finger software development kits (SDKs) technology available to partners and customers, after claiming the second-best result in the NIST PFT III biometric accuracy test.

Yinda pays over $26M for control of InterBio

Yinda is paying S$35 million (roughly US$26.3 million) for a 51 percent stake in International Biometrics Pte Ltd (InterBio), NextInsight reports.

The deal sees Yinda take on InterBio stock at a price of S$0.15 per share.

InterBio was founded in 2018, and primarily serves government customers, though it is reported to be planning moves into applications for medical insurance, healthcare, banking, transportation and telecommunications. The company reported net profit after tax of S$1.9 million ($1.4 million) in 2019 and S$2.9 million ($2.2 million) in 2020.

“The proposed acquisition of InterBio will allow the Group to ride on InterBio’s current base of maintaining Indonesia’s national identity database of more than 200 million enrollees as well as to support InterBio in building new inroads into the application of identity management biometric technology solutions in the burgeoning Indonesian market,” comments Yinda Infocomm Executive Director Gordon Tan.

InterBio Chief Strategy Officer Pierre Prunier says his company is one of the few in the world with successful implementation of multi-modal biometrics for the public and private sectors, and joining with Yinda will allow it to scale rapidly by targeting larger integrated projects.

“Building upon this partnership with Yinda Infocomm, InterBio will be in a strengthened position for growth,” Prunier states. “The synergies between the two companies will enable the group to secure more projects not just in Indonesia but also in Asia and the rest of the world. Yinda Infocomm’s license agreement with TECH5, will further enable us to venture into new exciting markets.”

Article Topics

acquisitions  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  identity management  |  InterBio  |  investment  |  TECH5  |  Yinda Infocomm