US-based retail technology company Mobeam closed its series A round on Monday, raising $4.9m from corporate venturing unit Samsung Ventures, Japan-based conglomerate Mitsui, Yet2ventures, the corporate venturing division of online open innovation marketplace Yet2, and further unnamed investors.
Mobeam’s light-based communication (LBC) technology allows customers to download barcodes for promotions or sales on to their mobile handsets and transform them into a beam of light readable by a laser scanner. The funding will be used to promote LBC as an industry standard while establishing promotional deals with major brands and retailers for offers focused around mobile coupons.
Ben duPont, general partner at yet2Ventures, said: "Laser scanners are used in all major retail locations throughout the world, yet no current mobile technology can communicate with them, except for Mobeam…‘mobeaming’ a barcode works accurately and reliably every time, and it makes the technologies retailers already have far more useful while adding a new layer of intelligence gathering for retailers and brands."
The investment makes Mobeam the latest wireless technology company to receive funding from the semiconductor manufacturer Samsung. Samsung Ventures’ portfolio already includes near-field comunication technology company Inside Contactless and radio frequency identification firm RFCamp.