Impinj Raises $22M to Accelerate RFID Product Development
Seattle, WA July 12, 2004 - Impinj, Inc., a fabless semiconductor company developing Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) solutions for supply chain and logistics automation, today announced that Mobius Venture Capital, Unilever Technology Ventures and the UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund have joined the company's previous investors, ARCH Venture Partners, Madrona Venture Group and Polaris Venture Partners, to provide $22 million in third-round funding. Impinj also announced that Aaron Cheatham, a Principal at Mobius Venture Capital which led the financing round, has joined Impinj's board of directors.
"This new injection of capital from valued advisers puts Impinj on the fast track to delivering the semiconductor-based solutions that our customers in the rapidly emerging, multi-billion-dollar RFID market are demanding," said Dr. William Colleran, President and CEO of Impinj. "We will continue to drive quickly toward volume production of our first-generation RFID products while developing new products that conform to the emerging Generation 2 standard."
Impinj was founded in May 2000 by legendary semiconductor expert Dr. Carver Mead and Dr. Chris Diorio, co-chair of the EPCglobal, Inc. Hardware Action Group that is responsible for establishing worldwide RFID standards. Impinj's RFID products, including the Zuma RFID tags introduced earlier this year, address the mandates set forth by the world's largest retailers for low cost, long range, field-rewritable RFID systems that comply with EPCglobal standards. Impinj's advantages derive from its patented Self-Adaptive Silicon®, an integrated circuit design technology that enables high performance analog functions and nonvolatile memory, critical elements of RFID products.
"RFID technology is revolutionizing the retail supply chain," said Simon Ellis, Supply Chain Futurist at Unilever. "Impinj's solutions and expertise are key to ensuring that the consumer packaged goods industry is able to meet mandated worldwide RFID roll-out deadlines over the next 18 months."
"UPS believes RFID technology has the potential to enhance the management of global supply chains, particularly in the area of inventory management," said Alan Koenning, Fund Manager at UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund. "An investment in Impinj provides UPS with an opportunity to better understand new RFID solutions and gain insight into the use, acceptance, and performance of next generation chips."
Impinj will use the proceeds of this financing to move into volume production of its RFID products and to expand operations both at its Seattle headquarters and at its Orange County, California facility opened this January.
- Article tagged as:
Monday, July 12, 2004
About Impinj
Impinj (NASDAQ: PI) helps businesses and people analyze, optimize, and innovate by wirelessly connecting billions of everyday things—such as apparel, automobile parts, luggage, and shipments—to the Internet. The Impinj platform uses RAIN RFID to deliver timely data about these everyday things to business and consumer applications, enabling a boundless Internet of Things. www.impinj.com
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Media Contact
Jill West
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Phone: +1 206-834-1110
[email protected]
About Impinj
Impinj (NASDAQ: PI) helps businesses and people analyze, optimize, and innovate by wirelessly connecting billions of everyday things—such as apparel, automobile parts, luggage, and shipments—to the Internet. The Impinj platform uses RAIN RFID to deliver timely data about these everyday things to business and consumer applications, enabling a boundless Internet of Things. www.impinj.com
Media Contact
Jill West
Vice President, Strategic Communications
Phone: +1 206-834-1110
[email protected]
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