US-based fingerprint sensor developer Vkansee has secured $10m in funding from investors including image sensor and chip producer Superpix Micro Technology.
Investment firm Infotech Ventures, Yunnan Huizhong Fund and Shenzhen Qianhai Greatwall Fund, a subsidiary of financial services firm Shenzhen Qianhai Financial Holdings, also participated in the round, together with undisclosed angel investors.
Vkansee is working on an ultra-thin, under-glass optical fingerprint sensor that will be used for identity verification for functions such as payment applications, data storage or technology access.
The capital will be used to commercially manufacture and distribute Vkansee’s lead product, which is expected to come to market in 2017, and for research and development as it looks to develop additional products.
The company plans to initially produce test wafers so prospective manufacturers and suppliers can assess the device. Its sensor technology can scan fingerprints at 2,000 pixels per inch – four times the resolution of sensors used by Samsung and Apple.
Vkansee has now raised $12m in funding since it was founded, according to a statement by the company, though a report in late 2014 claimed aerospace company Aviation Industry Corporation of China had invested $7m. All four of the named investors in its newest round are also based in China.
– Image courtesy of Vkansee Technology