2014 was a breakthrough year for Next Biometrics. The company completed an initial public offering, launched major new products and signed the first Tier 1 order for delivery in second half of 2015.
The highlights of 2014 were:
•Received Tier 1 and Tier 2 client orders for 2015 delivery. Sold and delivered more than 200 000 fingerprint sensors to variety of world-class clients such as BIO-key International in USA and received first orders from clients in China and India, among others.
•Raised $30 million in an Initial Public Offering and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the symbol NEXT.
•Signed strategic partnerships with major sensor system distributors: Hakuto in Japan, DuoDigit in Brazil, BIO-Key International and Fulcrum Biometrics in USA.
•Introduced fingerprint sensors ideal for smartphones with a touch area of 144 and 201 square-millimeters, offering far more security and reliability at less cost than competing offers in the market.
•Enhanced management with new CFO and top executives within sales, engineering and technology, as well as extending the board of directors with world class competence. The company is headquartered in Oslo with offices in Seattle, Silicon Valley, Prague, Shanghai and Taipei.
•The foundations were laid for increasing the monthly production capacity from 100 000 units to 1,8 million, with a sharp reduction in production cost. Based on comparing same area size sensors, Next production cost will be 70-80 per cent lower than competitors. The reason for this is that Next patented sensors are produced with polysilicon technology rather than more expensive silicon technology used by all competing offers.
•Joined Fast Identity Online (FIDO) Alliance to be at forefront with Google, Microsoft, Lenovo, NXP and PayPal to improve online authentication.
The company believes that based on a solid financial position, a very motivated and experienced staff, best-in-class product offerings and an increasing acceptance in the market, there is every reason to believe that 2015 will be a year of strong growth.