Active RFID Attracts More Big Money

Not long ago, IDTechEx assessed that active (with battery) RFID is 20% of the RFID market by value but attracting 24% of the investment as it advances to become 26% of the RFID market in 2016. Recently, the investment community has taken even more interest in active RFID. Of 27 recent fund raisings by RFID companies, 37% of the companies involved are in active RFID. 22% are in the particularly popular active RFID sector called Real Time Locating Systems RTLS. Recent acquisitions also favour active RFID companies. Indeed the largest exit, for hundreds of millions of dollars, was a company selling active RFID systems - Savi Technology sold to Lockheed Martin this year.

 

The following examples of recent fund raising by RFID businesses reflect the fact that the number of companies raising money is sharply increasing.

 

 

RTLS = Real Time Locating Systems

Source: IDTechEx www.idtechex.com

 

Reflecting this trend, IDTechEx will thoroughly cover the different active RFID markets in its conference RFID Smart Labels USA 2007 Boston February 21-22 2007 www.smartlabelsusa.com. It will be possible for small companies to raise money at the RFID Investment Summit on February 20. There will be presentations wholly or partly on active RFID from the National Information Society Agency, Korea, Lyngsoe Systems, Denmark, Mark IV, Canada and, from the USA, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, the US Department of Defense, United States Postal Service (USPS), Visible Assets, and Infratab. They will be scoping the big orders to come. Coverage includes postal, food industry, defense, road transport and newly created markets such as Ubiquitous Sensor Networks USN, because the opportunities are very broad based.

 

Passive RFID remains very important. Of the recent successful fund raisings by RFID companies, 27% were primarily in software and software-based services, usually related to passive RFID systems, proof of authenticity via RFID being a repeated example. The other investments in passive RFID companies concerned hardware and mainly systems supply or systems integration.

 

For more read RFID Profit, Acquisition and Investment Strategy.