Tyfone’s investors explain why they took part in the MicroSD format NFC supplier’s $5m funding round

“The investors who participated in our Series B financing round bring unique expertise within financial services and we’ll benefit from their knowledge beyond the value of their financial investment in Tyfone,” says the company’s CEO.

Tyfone's SideTap NFC on microSD
SIDETAP: Tyfone will use the new money to accelerate production of its SideTap microSD cards

MicroSD NFC device and solutions provider Tyfone has now released details of the investors behind last month’s $5m Series B funding round. The investors include a strategic manufacturing partner, further participation from existing investor Ojas Venture Partners plus two new investors — both based in India — HDFC Holdings and Polaris Software Lab.

Tyfone will use the capital to accelerate production of SideTap MicroSD memory cards for mobile contactless transactions and scale the software side of its business, which includes mobile banking, couponing and loyalty solutions.

“Now that our core technology has been developed, patented and is in production, this new funding allows Tyfone the ability to bring our solutions to new markets and build a broader ecosystem,” says Tom Spitzer, Tyfone’s CEO. “The investors who participated in our Series B financing round bring unique expertise within financial services and we’ll benefit from their knowledge beyond the value of their financial investment in Tyfone.”

“Polaris Software Lab’s investment in Tyfone is in line with our vision of global leadership in the financial transaction space,” Arun Jain, founder, chairman and CEO of Polaris Software Lab adds. “Our most comprehensive suite of Intellect products and Tyfone’s groundbreaking innovation in the mobile payments industry will prove to be a potent combination when packaged to deliver greater efficiency and higher value to our customers.”

“The market for mobile financial services is nascent but significant,” says HDFC’s V Srinivasa Rangan. “HDFC Holdings was impressed with the team, the technology, and patents that Tyfone possesses and we recognize that Tyfone is in a unique position to leverage a global market opportunity.”

“Ojas Venture Partners’ continued participation in this series B round of financing is a testament to its belief in the team, the business opportunity and the milestones the company has achieved,” explains Rajesh Srivathsa, managing partner of Ojas Venture Partners. “We have been impressed with the company’s prudence, determination and its critical accomplishments in building a unique and global product line, patents, and partnerships. Our continued participation will assist Tyfone in building a strong international team, attract quality technology partners and secure significant commercial wins.”

Tyfone first announced in January 2009 that it had developed a microSD-format NFC solution that could be retrofitted to existing mobile phones and was granted a patent covering the use of a memory card as an electronic wallet and the ability to use that memory card for the secure transmission of financial information later the same year.

In March this year Tyfone announced it would be ready to field test its technology during the second half of 2010 and signed a deal with First Data that is expected to lead to the payments processing giant providing its customers with near field communication solutions based on Tyfone’s technology.

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