BioGuard's TruePrint scanners lead the way
Company is not afraid to offer its unique technology to both government and commercial end-users; access control and baggage handling are important sectors, but there is no need to leave money on the table by ignoring the domestic market; company’s anti-carjacking system a hit in Europe; IPO may be imminent
Readers looking for a new biometrics partner need look no further than Rosh Ha’Ain, Israel-based BioGuard Componants and Technologies. Unlike some other companies, who develop technologies with a single market in mind, BioGuard believes — as do a number of other younger companies — that it will do best by offering fingerprint scanning across a range of sectors, from homeland defense to school food service. Among its core competencies are: access control, computer protection, anti-carjacking devices, tracking and monitoring systems for fleet management, auto-payment solutions for cafes and retail outlets, and even time and attendance systems for schools and workplaces.
The BioGuard’s TruePrint fingerprint technology, which requires live tissue and a pulse to work (thereby eliminating the risk of a dismembered finger), can identify a fingerprint from a library of up to 6,000 templates in under two seconds. Intended for use by both professionals and children, the TruePrint was also designed to avoid user error: once scanned, the fingerprint can be rotated 360 degrees, meaning that a rushed or careless student does not have to place his fingertip at a specific angle. The technology can be used either in stand-alone units or incorporated into a network.
Investors take note: After receiving a $3 million infusion from angel investors in 2004, BioGuard is now profitable and considering a public offering on AIM in London. By the end of 2006, the company expects to have sales of $1 million, and by the end of 2007 anything between $4-7 million. These numbers should receive a significant boost if a multi-million dollar 10-year contract with India to use fingerprint technology to enable air travelers to identify their luggage is completed as expected. Current customers include the New York Diamond Exchange, the Prime Minister’s Office in Israel, border control authorities in Romania, Israel, and Sri-Lanka, banks in Israel, schools in the UK and Singapore, retail outlets in Belgium, and fleet management operators throughout the US and Europe.
-read more in Nicky Blackburn’s Israel21c report
