Chester-based entrepreneur's fingerprint tech firm nabs £150k seed funding

A fingerprint technology company has secured a six-figure investment in its mission to cut out the need for computer and mobile phone passwords.

Touch Biometrix will use the £150k seed funding, provided by Chester’s Deepbridge Capital, to develop new fingerprint sensors that could revolutionise consumer electronics.

The sensors are based on proprietary technology and use sensing algorithms to enhance user security.

Touch Biometrix said its sensors can be made to any size or shape, making them applicable for a wider range of products like smartphones and laptops.

The company was founded in 2017 by Dr Mike Cowin, whose aim is to turn the business into one of the world’s top five fingerprint sensor suppliers by 2023.

Chief exec Dr Cowin, who lives in Chester, said: “Our new manufacturing model is set to disrupt the market in terms of performance and cost, at less than $1 a unit. Fast, secure and impossible to spoof, our technology will eliminate the need for passwords.

“We will be using the money from the initial seed funding round to establish a minimum viable product in collaboration with our supply chain partners.”

He continued: “The demand for user authentication and mobile payment services is driving tremendous growth. The industry predicts that biometrics will be standard in 90% of mobile devices in the next four years generating 1.37 trillion mobile device transactions.”

Deepbridge Capital managing partner Ian Warwick commented: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Touch Biometrix at what is an exciting time for the biometric industry.

“We understand there is an increasing need for secure user authentication technology and we believe Touch Biometrix has the capability to move quickly in this market.”

According to Touch Biometrix, data suggests the market demand for fingerprint sensors will exceed 1.5 billion units per year by 2020. The global market for biometrics is forecast to hit $15bn (c.£11bn) by 2025.