VIRGINIA BIOMETRIC SECURITY DEVICE (KEYCHAIN) FIRM RAISES #15M IN FINANCING TO HELP LAUNCH BUSINESS
BIOMETRICS FIRM GETS FUNDING;
KEYCHAIN MAKER'S INVESTORS INCLUDE A LOCAL VENTURE-CAPITAL COMPANY

By Jeffrey Kelley Times-Dispatch Staff Writer Any ideas? Staff writer Jeffrey Kelley can be reached at (804) 649-6348 or jkelley@timesdispatch.com


Barry W. Johnson has undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering.

As of this week, he also has $15.7 million to help launch his biometrics security company.

Charlottesville-based Privaris Inc. said yesterday that it has secured early-stage funding to expand sales and marketing operations. The financing round was led by Richmond-based Harbert Venture Partners.

"Typically you can see a $15 million round as a later-stage round, but we think the company has tremendous potential," said Wayne Hunter, managing partner at Harbert, which provides money to early-stage technology and health-care companies in the region.

Founded in 2001, Privaris has developed a high-tech keychain -- it works much like a thin, scan-capable security or "proximity" card -- but it is equipped with a fingerprint reader.

The Privaris reader is a biometrics device, a product that transforms a part of the body into an ID mechanism. Some critics say such technologies may be an invasion of privacy or prone to ID theft. With the wireless Privaris device, however, data are stored only on the keychain, not in a database -- as is the case with more traditional biometrics.

There are two versions of the Privaris product. One is used for entering buildings and in computer security. The other lets users perform tasks such as opening security gates for vehicles, said Johnson, the president and chief executive officer.

The keychain can be used with security systems and networks already in place within organizations. In addition, he said, users can install software on their computer and use the reader instead of typing passwords on secure portals or applications, such as a bank Web site or e-mail account. The device connects to the computer through the short-range wireless technology Bluetooth.

Privacy concerns and high prices have made biometrics devices slow to gain widespread consumer acceptance. The Privaris keychain costs $179, Johnson said, but the price falls if bought in bulk.

New Haven, Conn.-based Sargent Manufacturing Co. is Privaris' first reseller, marketing the product under the name BioFob. Privaris has other resellers in the works, said Johnson, 48, who is on leave as a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Virginia.

"The key next goal for us is to introduce the next generation of our product in the spring of*'06," Johnson said.

"We're very close to having that ready, and that's going to be smaller, cheaper, better. Our goal since the beginning of the company is to have this device offered to the customer for less than $50," he said.

Under terms of the venture-capital round -- and typical of such deals -- Harbert's Hunter will join the Privaris board of directors along with three executives from Privaris' other institutional investors: Reston-based SpaceVest Capital, Atlanta-based Noro-Moseley Partners and River Cities Capital Funds, which has offices in Ohio and Raleigh, N.C.

Another company in Virginia, BioPay LLC, makes a product that lets people use their fingerprints in lieu of a credit or debit card. Credit-card-like "smart cards," which contain personal information on an embedded computer chip, are already common in parts of Europe, and at least 13 U.S. states use biometrics to help make driver's licenses secure, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Because Privaris uses no databases, Johnson believes his company's technology stands out, and the company holds U.S. design patents to back up that claim.

"Others have a small piece of it here and there," he said. "I think we've got a complete package."

November 3, 2005