ThingMagic, Inc. (www.thingmagic.com), a leading developer of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, today announced it has received additional funding. New investors include Cisco Systems, Inc., the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, and Nicholas Negroponte, Wiesner Professor of Media Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and founding chairman of MIT’s Media Laboratory. ThingMagic’s private financing totals $21 million, including a line of credit from Silicon Valley Bank.
“Like the Internet, RFID is an infrastructure-driven technology. It requires easily managed network solutions that scale, are non-disruptive, and have low cost of ownership,” said Mohsen Moazami, Vice President of Retail-Consumer Products Distribution, Cisco Systems. “Cisco is an active member and supporter of the RFID industry. We partner with a number of industry leaders, including ThingMagic, that specialize in networked RFID solutions, making this investment a natural fit for our RFID strategy.”
“I’ve known ThingMagic’s founders since they were students at the MIT Media Lab, and then, as now, they stood out among their peers,” said Negroponte who, in addition to his role at MIT, is a noted futurist and author of the bestselling book Being Digital. “It’s no surprise ThingMagic has made unparalleled advances in RFID, and I’m enthusiastic about supporting the company’s R&D and strategic initiatives.”
“Cisco is an excellent match as an investor in ThingMagic,” said Tom Grant, ThingMagic’s chairman and CEO. “Its deep understanding of the enterprise networking market, as well as its approach to wireless networking in general and RFID in particular, will be invaluable to us as we design and develop the RFID-based network infrastructure. Nicholas Negroponte has been a source of guidance and encouragement from the company’s founding.”
“ThingMagic’s Mercury4 RFID reader platform, the only reader available that can read any RFID tag, is designed with a unique Software Defined Radio architecture. It is certified by EPCglobal and MET Labs for all three Generation 2 RFID modes, including the complex Dense Reader mode. As a result, this innovative architecture allows Mercury4 readers to be easily and remotely updated for any future Generation 2 variants and other new RFID standards, ensuring that customers will always have the latest RFID technology available. Other investors in ThingMagic include The Tudor Group and affiliated funds, The Exxel Group, Inventec Appliances Corp., Morningside Technology Ventures Ltd., and Top Line Capital LLC. ![[end]](/resources/bullet/archive-4.gif)
