AIX EN PROVENCE, France-Near Field Communications vendor Inside Contactless said it closed $10.6 million in financing.
Sofinnova, Vertex Venture Capital and Visa International led the round, while GIMV, Vertex Singapore and Siparex also participated.
Inside said it plans to use the funds to expand its business in the contactless payment and mobile NFC markets. The company offers a dedicated microcontroller chip called MicroPass and plans to expand its product portfolio to create a family of products for its targeted markets.
The company said it also plans to bolster its management team.
Contactless payment technology is beginning to take hold in a variety of applications worldwide. However, the roadmap for mobile-phone payment technology is less clear and several key issues have yet to be addressed.
