Linxens opening biometric sensor facility in France

International growth ambitions and further investment are evident in announcements from Linxens, Oz Forensics, First AML, and Ambiq about the opening of new facilities and offices to reach new scale and markets for biometrics and secure digital identity.

Linxens invests $5.27M into biometric sensor workshop

Linxens has invested 5 million euros (approximately US$5.27 million) into a biometric sensor workshop in Mantes-la-Jolie, France, to advance its presence in the field of fingerprint biometric cards.

With Linxens’ investment, the workshop will feature a clean room and equipment to assemble fingerprint sensors for biometric card manufacturers. The company says it will enable large-scale production of the sensors and centralize the various stages of design and production to guarantee a competitive solution and rapid development.

“By creating our world-class biometric center in Mantes-la-Jolie, we will provide a unique solution to our customers for the current and future development of our various products. It is also a great opportunity for our teams in Mantes to acquire new skills and competencies in a promising technology,” comments Arnaud Brunetière, chief operating officer of Linxens.

Linxens plans to ensure that the next generation of high-tech cards will incorporate a biometric sensor. It gives examples in payment cards, building access, or document validation.

The company reports having four R&D centers and seven large-scale production sites around the world. Though with its newest Mantes-la-Jolie workshop, it may number at eight large-scale production sites.

Oz Forensics cuts the ribbon to new main office in Dubai

Oz Forensics opened its latest office in Dubai to serve as its main hub to compete internationally for worldwide face biometrics business.

Artem Gerasimov, CEO of Oz Forensics, says, “In 2021, our company has seen a strong growth reaching more than 18 territories worldwide, and establish solid of international clients, and the introduction of spoofing and deepfake detection technology. We have enhanced our team to increase and support our marketing activities to better satisfy our client’s needs. This opening represents a big milestone in our growth as it will represent the main hub for our business.”

The company had one office location in Sheridan, Wyoming prior to the announcement. Its international clients are primarily in the financial services. Its face biometric software passed Level 2 Presentation Attack Detection from the iBeta testing lab without an error.

A press release says the Dubai office is part of Oz Forensics’ long-term strategy for global reach. It plans for expansion into the Latin America market with more clients, a dedicated team, and the introduction of its signature on-device Oz Liveness product.

First AML opens UK office

First AML, an anti-money laundering (AML) company founded in New Zealand that performs identity checks with biometrics, opened a new location in the UK to bring its service to the country.

The new office is located in Shoreditch, a district in London, England, and will have 25 employees. The expansion is part of its strategy made possible with a NZ$30 million (US$21.4 million) Series B funding round in November 2021 that the company pledged to use for presence in the UK, Europe, and Singapore, along with doubling its headcount by the end of 2022.

First AML says it automates and simplifies the AML/KYC (know your customer) onboarding processes by only requiring the client’s name and e-mail address, which is compared to its pre-verified database to reduce repetition, cost, and friction.

With its emphasis on combatting money laundering, First AML notes the relevance of opening a UK location due to the country’s links to financial crimes made especially apparent with Russian oligarchs stationing their funds in Britain. First AML quotes a report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime that estimates the cost of money laundering at two to five percent of global GDP, or US$800 billion to US$2 trillion.

First AML CEO Milan Cooper says, “Our customers love our solution and it’s proving to be the best approach to streamlining customer due diligence. With groundbreaking investigations around tax havens and money laundering across multiple countries, the AML compliance regime is a key priority for accounting, law and real estate.”

Ambiq opens regional hub in Singapore

Ambiq opened a regional hub center in Singapore to focus on its design, verification, and validation engineering teams for company growth.

The Technology Design Center will serve as a site for the design of its Subthreshold Power Optimized Technology (SPOT) platform that builds energy-efficient semiconductors for various applications, including wearable biometric devices and biometric identity cards.

The company has ties to Singapore, receiving funding and support for regional expansion from EDBI, a Singapore-based investor. It also won awards for innovation from the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards for its role in Singapore’s TraceTogether COVID-19 program with its Apollo3 Blue system-on-a-chip to enable community contact tracing.

“Singapore is uniquely positioned to play a critical role in driving the continued growth of technological innovation in the ASEAN region,” says Fumihide Esaka, chairman and CEO of Ambiq. “As Ambiq continues to diversify and expand its businesses worldwide, the new Technology Design Center is a further testament to our commitment and investment in Singapore for future success, allowing us to grow our development teams effectively.”

Article Topics

Ambiq  |  AML  |  biometric liveness detection  |  biometric sensors  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  First AML  |  investment  |  Linxens  |  Oz Forensics  |  research and development  |  wearables