Tyco Leads $15M Kovio Round

Milpitas, CA-based Kovio, which is developing silicon printing technologies that can be used to produce radio-readable barcodes for product tracking and retailing, said this week that it has obtained $15 million in new equity financing. Strategic investor Tyco Retail Solutions, a, division of Tyco International, led the round, which was joined by existing investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, DAG Ventures, Northgate Capital, Harris & Harris, Flagship Ventures and Pangaea Ventures. “We are delighted to be partnering with Tyco to bring to market the world’s first commercially available products that leverage Kovio’s printed silicon capabilities,” Kovio CEO Amir Mashkoori said in a statement. The company says that consumers with smartphones carrying near-field-communications (NFC) technology will be able to wave their phones near products with Kovio tags and “gain deeper product insight, take advantage of targeted promotions and offers, and be assured of a product’s safety and authenticity.”

Author: Wade Roush

Between 2007 and 2014, I was a staff editor for Xconomy in Boston and San Francisco. Since 2008 I've been writing a weekly opinion/review column called VOX: The Voice of Xperience. (From 2008 to 2013 the column was known as World Wide Wade.) I've been writing about science and technology professionally since 1994. Before joining Xconomy in 2007, I was a staff member at MIT’s Technology Review from 2001 to 2006, serving as senior editor, San Francisco bureau chief, and executive editor of TechnologyReview.com. Before that, I was the Boston bureau reporter for Science, managing editor of supercomputing publications at NASA Ames Research Center, and Web editor at e-book pioneer NuvoMedia. I have a B.A. in the history of science from Harvard College and a PhD in the history and social study of science and technology from MIT. I've published articles in Science, Technology Review, IEEE Spectrum, Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Technology and Culture, Alaska Airlines Magazine, and World Business, and I've been a guest of NPR, CNN, CNBC, NECN, WGBH and the PBS NewsHour. I'm a frequent conference participant and enjoy opportunities to moderate panel discussions and on-stage chats. My personal site: waderoush.com My social media coordinates: Twitter: @wroush Facebook: facebook.com/wade.roush LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/waderoush Google+ : google.com/+WadeRoush YouTube: youtube.com/wroush1967 Flickr: flickr.com/photos/wroush/ Pinterest: pinterest.com/waderoush/