Impinj Adds $14 Million

Impinj Inc., a Seattle-based provider of semiconductor and RFID technology, has raised $14 million in sixth-round funding from strategic backers like Inventec Appliances Corp., LS Industrial Systems Co., Samsung Ventures America and YFY Group. The company previously had raised over $105 million from firms like AllianceBernstein, backers ARCH Venture Partners, GF Private Equity Group, Madrona Venture Group, Mobius Venture Capital, Polaris Venture Partners, Unilever Technology Ventures, UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund, VentureTech Alliance and the Viterbi Group. Get more info.

Leading semiconductor and RFID technology provider Impinj, Inc. today announced new investments of more than $14 million from several of the world's leading electronics companies including:

—   Inventec Appliances Corporation (IAC) is a global leader in smart handheld devices and Internet appliance solutions, specializing in multimedia, broadband and wireless technology convergence. With integrated engineering design and manufacturing capabilities, IAC provides world-renowned ODM customers innovative products and solutions to address the latest high-potential market trend — connected anytime and anywhere. IAC also markets its own brand OKWAP handsets in the Greater China market. Headquartered in Wugu Industrial Park, Taiwan, IAC is traded on the Taiwan Stock Exchange market under ticker symbol 3367.TW.   http://www.iac.com.tw 
   
—   LS Industrial Systems Co. Ltd., formerly  LG Industrial Systems Co., Ltd., is the leader in industrial electric machinery and systems in Korea. In 2004, LS Industrial Systems designated RFID as one of its core business areas and built the first and largest RFID tag and reader production infrastructure in Korea.   http://eng.lsis.biz 
   
—  Samsung Ventures America (SVA) is the US operation of Samsung Venture Investment Corporation (SVIC), the venture capital arm of the  Samsung Group. SVA and SVIC collectively manage over $400 million, tracking closely to the strategic priorities of  Samsung Electronics' and other Group companies' core operating divisions, and encompassing investments in semiconductors, displays, telecommunications, and consumer electronics. http://samsungventure.co.kr/english/index_english.html 
   
—  YFY Group, Taiwan's largest papermaking conglomerate, recently
launched an RFID subsidiary, Yeon Technologies Co., Ltd., providing value-added UHF RFID services that boost operating efficiency and help companies keep up with the global trends.   http://www.yfy.com 

“Continued strategic investment by prominent, global companies is further validation of Impinj's UHF RFID market leadership position,” said Michael Liard, RFID & Contactless Research Director at ABI Research. “Impinj is also creating a cohesive RFID ecosystem with investors, RFID infrastructure providers, other RFID technology developers and end users that enables further adoption and continued market development.”

“This additional investment puts Impinj in an excellent cash position and will be used for continued development of item-level RFID products and technologies,” said William Colleran, president and CEO of Impinj. “We are also very excited by the additional business opportunities made possible by closer relationships with this group of respected and well-connected companies.”

“Impinj's significant contributions to global RFID technology adoption are impressive,” said Brian Kang, managing director of Samsung Ventures. “Our strategic investment in Impinj represents a strong commitment to the RFID industry and the innovative companies that are enabling its growth.”

In addition to customer successes in the pharmaceutical, food safety and retail supply chain sectors, Impinj recently delivered a significant RFID technology breakthrough for item-level tagging of apparel. To date, Impinj has raised more that $110 million in private funding.

About Impinj, Inc.

Impinj, Inc. is a semiconductor and RFID company whose patented Self-Adaptive Silicon