NEXT Biometrics, NEXT, a global leader in advanced, Active Thermal® fingerprint
sensor technology, is pleased to announce the signing of a new, multi-year
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with an Indian OEM. Through this strategic
agreement, valued at approximately 18 MNOK per year, the parties target the law
enforcement and banking industries in Europe and South Africa as well as the
growing MOSIP market in Asia and Africa. Under the terms of the MoU, the Indian
OEM will design and manufacture an authentication device featuring NEXT's new
FAP30 sensor, which will be compatible with both Windows and Android devices.
Following the recent announcement that engineering samples of its new FAP30
sensor are now available, NEXT is pleased to announce it has already signed the
first agreement which will introduce its newest family member of the FAP sensor
family to the world. NEXT's Partner, the Indian OEM, will design and manufacture
a battery-driven authentication device, which targets the continuous need for
secure biometric authentication in the law enforcement and banking industry.
NEXT's new FAP30 sensor comes with higher than ever seen before biometric
security, and it will be integrated in the device to provide state-of-the-art
biometric authentication.
Digvijay Singh Kanwar, Senior Vice President and Head of Sales, India, US, EU
and Africa at NEXT, explained the importance of product penetration on the South
African market:
"South Africa is the leader on the African continent and as such, a significant
and powerful trend setter. Due to Africa's unique climate, sensor solutions for
this market must be resistant to weather conditions and durable. Our new FAP30
fingerprint sensor is a premium biometric security product, which not only meet
all the above-mentioned demands, but it is also easy to integrate and consumes
less battery than competing optical solutions."
Mr. Kanwar noted that the market's reception of NEXT's FAP30 sensor samples has
far exceeded the company's expectations. A contributing driver to the market's
large interest in NEXT's new sensor samples is the size of the FAP30 sensor, as
it is also the de-facto size for all United Nations (UN) projects based in
Africa.
Mr. Kanwar concluded:
"Step by step, we have continued to develop our Active Thermal® technology and
increase our efforts on the African continent. The market has started to
understand the benefits of having a solid partner like NEXT onboard. I believe
signing this MoU is also proof of the market's trust in our ability to deliver
on our promises and provide enhanced biometric security to protect the most
sensitive and business-critical authentication processes."
To cater to the needs of the African market, the Indian OEM's device will be
slim, and battery driven. To further improve the user-experience and its system
compatibility, it will come in both a USB wired version and a Bluetooth version
and be compatible with both Windows and Android devices. Mr. Kanwar said the
FAP30 will be ready for mass-production in the latter half of 2025 and expects
NEXT's shipments of improved samples to this Indian OEM to start in first half
of 2025.
This information in this stock exchange announcement is considered to be inside
information pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and is published in
accordance with section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
For more information, please contact:
Ulf Ritsvall
Chief Executive Officer, NEXT
ulf.ritsvall@nextbiometrics.com
Eirik Underthun
Chief Financial Officer, NEXT
eirik.underthun@nextbiometrics.com
About NEXT Biometrics
NEXT provides advanced fingerprint sensor technology that delivers uncompromised
security and accuracy for the best possible user experience in the payment and
fintech, government ID, access control and office and notebook markets. The
company's patented NEXT Active Thermal ® principle allows the development of
large, high-quality fingerprint sensors with superior security level. NEXT
Biometrics Group ASA is headquartered in Oslo, with sales, support, and
development operations in Seattle, Taipei, Tokyo, New Delhi and Shanghai.
For more information, please visit us at https://www.nextbiometrics.com
This stock exchange announcement was published by Eirik Underthun, CFO at NEXT
Biometrics Group ASA, on 29 December 2024, at 11:45 hours (CEST).