Seattle-based Adapx, which aims to speed up workflows by making it easier to mark up digital documents, has raised a new financing round of $5 million and says it has grown to about 800 customers. Adapx (pronounced “adapts”) said the money would be used to expand its Capturx software line for mainstream business uses and more complex military applications.
As my colleague Greg wrote in 2009, the Adapx technology bridges physical note-taking and digital documentation by putting the power into the pen. A field worker can take handwritten notes, mark up a chart, or sketch a new design, and then digitize those strokes by connecting the pen to a PC. Once uploaded, that information can be integrated with common software like Microsoft Office and Excel, or more specialized engineering and drafting programs.
It works by embedding a watermark on a printed map or spreadsheet, which a tiny scanner on a special pen can pick up, keeping track of where notes are on the page (the pen still writes with traditional ink). Adapx said the military-grade version also expands beyond paper, allowing commanders and intelligence units to digitize handwritten notes on touchscreen devices and even add voice notes as they write on a wall display.
Adapx said the new financing round included its previous venture capital investors: Kirkland, WA-based OVP Venture Partners, Washington, D.C.-based Paladin Capital Group, and Salt Lake City-based Pelion Venture Partners. The company also has partnerships with companies including Microsoft, Lockheed Martin, and In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s quasi-private research and development branch, which has previously invested in Adapx. The company actually started in the military sector as a supplier of user interface technology to DARPA.
