| Abstract: | Reva Systems' "Series B" $13.5 million will be used to build out the company's geographic footprint with channel partners as well as to expand its Tag Acquisition Network. |
| Keywords: | RFID, TCP/IP, Reva Systems, SAP, Cisco Systems, enterprise services architecture, |
Reva Systems Inc. revealed today that SAP AG's venture capital arm and Cisco Systems Inc. were "substantial" participants in the RFID network infrastructure startup's recently closed $13.5 million round of "Series B" financing.
The funding brings Reva's total capitalization to $20 million since its inception in early 2004. Also participating in the round were Reva's original venture capital backers -- North Bridge Venture Partners and Charles River Ventures -- as well as individual investors, the company said.
In an interview with Managing Automation, Reva CEO Tom Schuster declined to say how much capital Cisco and SAP Ventures provided. "Everyone put in a substantial contribution," he said, alluding to the company's four major investors.
The cash infusion will be used by Reva to create a global network of channel partners and hire an internal staff of pre- and post-sales engineers to support multinational and territory-specific RFID rollouts, Schuster said. Reva, he added, also expects to pour more money into R&D to build specific customer/vertical-market workflows.
In addition, the company plans to use its fresh capital to expand its Tag Acquisition Network (TAN), which provides scalable network intelligence to help companies deploy and tune RFID readers to site-specific requirements, and its Tag Acquisition Processor (TAP), which implements the TAN by creating above the reader level a logical layer that acts as an extension to enterprise TCP/IP networks. Reva's products support the EPCglobal Gen2 air interface protocol, reader-to-network protocols, and RFID data access standards.
Dollars aside, analysts said the backing of industry powerhouses Cisco and SAP, which have complementary interests in the success of RFID, should give Reva -- and its standards-based way of making RFID deployment and management intrinsic to the enterprise TCP/IP network -- an instant infusion of credibility as companies worldwide seek demonstrable cost justification to invest in RFID technology for purposes beyond compliance with customer mandates.
"Large names like these add a lot of credence and credibility" to Reva, noted Michael J. Liard, director of the RFID and Contactless practice at ABI Research.
Jennifer Scholze, a partner at SAP Ventures, told Managing Automation that Reva fits perfectly with its investment portfolio, which includes companies such as T3Ci, a company that offers an on-demand, subscription-based application service that enables suppliers and retailers to analyze RFID data in real time.
Reva's allure, she said, is its ability to plug into SAP's NetWeaver infrastructure: Reva, for example, already supports SAP's Auto-ID application interoperability standard. The startup's heavy involvement with international standards bodies, and its desire to address cross-industry business requirements beyond pure supply-chain tracking in segments such as pharmaceuticals, high tech and retail, also made Reva a desirable investment, she added.
"We usually don't do early-stage investments, but Reva seems to have traction," Scholtze explained, pointing to the start-up's original investors, its strong management team, and marquee customer references such as Hewlett Packard, which is using the startup's RFID products across its global supply chain to meet requests for tagged goods from retailers and other customers.
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