A County Durham firm specialising in tagging technology has sealed a further £200,000 investment to ramp up overseas work.
Sedgefield based PervasID is a global market leader in fixed passive RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology. The tech has been around since the Second World War but only worked within a couple of metres of a tag until recently, with accuracy of around 80%. However, PervasID’s TrackMaster can serve up near 100% accuracy at a range of up to 20m.
Now the company has secured the six-investment from Maven Cognition to accelerate the global rollout of its TrackMaster solution, with a focus on US markets. The funding will support PervasID’s continued expansion, helping it to meet increasing demand from major clients in retail sectors while also boosting its research into advanced software solutions in data analytics.
Peter Oram, CEO of PervasID said: “The growth we’ve experienced in recent years is a testament to our market-leading innovation. Our 2024 investment round, which secured over £3m, is already taking the business to the next level as we continue with the global rollout of TrackMaster. We’ll be using this latest investment to continue our growth plans and to maximise the opportunities in the Ƶ and US where we are seeing fast-paced adoption of TrackMaster.”
The business was originally launched in 2011 as a spinout from Cambridge University by Dr Sabesan Sithamparanathan and a number of colleagues from the university, after its engineering department garnered attention from the retail, security and logistics sectors with its real-time location tracking system.
Over the years it has continued to develop market leading technology that it says sets new industry standards for accuracy and range, and its remote tracking capabilities are now used by global clients in retail, healthcare, logistics and aerospace. Last year saw the company launch its second base at NETPark, specifically to tap into the skills and expertise within the region’s growing tech cluster.
Last November PervasID secured £3.25m in a funding round led by Parkwalk Advisors, which includes investment from two Maven-managed regional funds: a £375,000 investment from the Finance Durham Fund established by Durham County Council and overseen by Business Durham, and a £375,000 investment from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II), supported by the British Business Bank.
Its team at NETPark is ploughing those funds into expanding its customer base and R&D to enhance its software products.
Richard Male, managing director at Maven Cognition, said: “We are pleased to support PervasID through our first EIS fund. The company is a strong example of the type of innovation-led business we seek to back - with proven technology, growing commercial traction, and clear international opportunity. We look forward to working with the team as they continue to scale.”
