Authentication Firm Priva to Close $14M Series A in August

[R. A. Hettinga]

http://professional.venturewire.com/exclusives.asp?sid=QJONPOPONI

VentureWire

Authentication Firm Priva to Close $14M Series A in August
By Michelle Tsai
7/4/2002
ARLINGTON, Va. -- Priva Technologies, developer of an authentication
platform based on an integrated circuit that performs authentication and
security functions, has launched its first product and expects to close $14
million in Series A round funding in a month, said CEO and chairman Jeff
Minushkin.

The company has secured a lead investor and raised $4.5 million so far in
its first institutional round. Mr. Minushkin said the firm has a post-money
valuation "in the low 20s."

Priva will devote Series A financing to product rollout, marketing,
research, and development. The staff size will increase from 23 to 38 by
the end of this year, including new chief marketing officer and chief
information officer positions. This first round of financing would last for
more than three years on Priva's current burn rate.

Formed in 2000, the company has developed an authentication hardware and
software platform centered around a microchip that performs authentication
and security functions. A data center with secure applications servers
communicates with the microchip, which can be embedded in computers and
handheld devices. Customers would integrate Priva's technology into their
back-end systems. The data center validates the microchip and the identify
of the person conducting the transaction -- everything from cash payments,
medical information, banking, and digital content -- through either
biometric scans or pin codes.

Mr. Minushkin said the firm is working with beta customers in the
financial, government, systems integration, and payments sectors. Priva
began producing one of its chips at the end of May and will employ a
services-based revenue model.

In addition to hardware sales, the company will also derive revenues from
services on a subscription basis. Mr. Minushkin said the firm will target
the government, financial agencies, and enterprises, which will in turn
roll out the system into the consumer markets. Priva will generate about $2
million in revenues this year for the first time, and expects more than $28
million next year.

Priva is already looking ahead to Series B financing. The company will
begin raising $25 million before the end of this year. Prior to Series A
funding, Priva raised $4.5 million from individual investors.

The board of directors comprises Mr. Minushkin; Brian Zied, principal with
Maverick Capital; Scott Widham, CEO of Capital Cable; Lee DeBoer II, CEO of
Automatic Media; Johon Roach, senior client adviser at the Chase Global
Private Bank; John Zeeman, co-founder and director of MCI Communications;
and John Grimaldi, director of communications for Priva.


http://www.priva-tech.com







-- 
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R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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