FPC and Smart Eye agree multi-million dollar iris recognition licensing deal

Fingerprints Cards has agreed to license its iris recognition technology to Smart Eye for a “total consideration” of up to SEK 50 million ($4.5 million), with some focus on developments in the automotive industry.

Fingerprint Cards and Smart Eye have a licensing deal that includes payments in shares and dividends, which includes timings such as the first Start of Production (SOP) and royalty payments. Payments will be marked over a five year timespan.

Smart Eye in turn will grant Fingerprint Cards a license to sell Smart Eye’s multi-modal solution “outside the automotive industry”, according to a press release. Revenues from the application developed by Smart Eye outside the automotive industry will be shared by Smart Eye and Fingerprint Cards on a “case-by-case basis.”

Martin Krantz, CEO of Smart Eye, said: “We see an increasing interest from the automotive industry to include authentication for in-car payment system transactions and enabling other advanced features, such as driver personalization.”

Beginning in 2026, new cars in Europe must be equipped with a Driver Monitoring System (DMS) to detect driver distraction, with corresponding increases in biometrics tech and camera usage in autos.

As part of the agreement, Smart Eye will license back to Fingerprint Cards a multimodal asset including facial recognition and eye tracking, significantly expanding Fingerprint Cards’ portfolio of biometric modalities. This enables Fingerprint Cards to sell into new and existing customers, enabling enterprise clients to improve security and user experience by replacing passwords with biometrics.

Adam Philpott, CEO of Fingerprint Cards, said: “This partnership is a pivotal step in our journey to expand Fingerprints’ biometric offerings.”

“Smart Eye’s leadership in automotive in-cabin sensing underscores the value and potential of our iris recognition technology,” he added.

Smart Eye will demonstrate Fingerprint Cards’ iris recognition technology at booth 3840 in Las Vegas during CES 2025.

Article Topics

automotive biometrics  |  biometrics  |  Fingerprint Cards  |  iris biometrics  |  iris recognition  |  licensing  |  Smart Eye