Kovio, Inc. was a privately held

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...

technology company headquartered in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

that manufactured electronic devices based on a proprietary

printed silicon electronics Printed electronics is a set of printing methods used to create electrical devices on various substrates. Printing typically uses common printing equipment suitable for defining patterns on material, such as screen printing, flexography, grav ...

platform.Clark, Mike
"Kovio Signs NFC Big Data Deal with Symphony Teleca"
''NFC World'', Retrieved on 22 July 2013. Products included

Near Field Communication Near-field communication (NFC) is a set of communication protocols that enables communication between two electronic devices over a distance of 4 cm (1 in) or less. NFC offers a low-speed connection through a simple setup that can be u ...

(NFC) tags for use in mobile marketing, authentication, and advertising as well as

electronic article surveillance Electronic article surveillance is a technological method for preventing shoplifting from retail stores, pilferage of books from libraries or removal of properties from office buildings. Special tags are fixed to merchandise; these tags are remove ...

(EAS) labels for anti-shoplifting applications.Savastano, David
"Kovio’s Technology Enables Nedap !FaST Tags to Change the EAS Market"
''Printed Electronics Now'', Retrieved on 22 July 2013. On January 21, 201
Thin Film Electronics ASA
acquired Kovio technology, intellectual property and production equipment.

History

Kovio was founded in 2001 under the name NanotectonicaBashan, Tsafrir
"JVP invests $1m in US Company NanoTectonica"
''Globes'', 19 December 2001, Retrieved 23 July 2013. by affiliates of the

MIT Media Lab The MIT Media Lab is a research laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, growing out of MIT's Architecture Machine Group in the School of Architecture. Its research does not restrict to fixed academic disciplines, but draws from ...

, including

Joe Jacobson Joseph Mark Jacobson (born 17 November 1986) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a left back for Wycombe Wanderers.

, Colin Bulthaup, Brian Hubert, and Brent Ridley. Kovio appeared at the 2007 IDTechEx Printed Electronics USA Conference, at which the company introduced the world’s first all-printed, high-performance silicon thin-film transistor with an

electron mobility In solid-state physics, the electron mobility characterises how quickly an electron can move through a metal or semiconductor when pulled by an electric field. There is an analogous quantity for holes, called hole mobility. The term carrier mobili ...

of 80cm2/Vs.Pitcher, Graham
"Printed Transistor Announced"
''New Electronics'', 14 November 2007, Retrieved 23 July 2013Johnson, Colin
"Silicon circuits made ink-jet printable"
''EE Times'', 13 November 2007, Retrieved 23 July 2013. Kovio was subsequently awarded the 2007 Technical Development Materials Award and 2008 New Product Development Award by industry analyst IDTechEx.IDTechEx Awards 2007
''IDTechEx website'', Retrieved 23 July 2013.IDTechEx Awards 2008
''IDTechEx website'', Retrieved 23 July 2013. On January 21, 201
Thin Film Electronics ASA
acquired Kovio technology and production equipment.

Memberships and partnerships

In February 2010, Kovio and Nissan Chemical Industries announced a collaboration and development partnership to scale Kovio’s silicon ink to commercial volumes, and to introduce and commercialize such inks in display applications.Greene, Kate
"Case Study: Printing a Path to Success"
''MIT Technology Review'', May/June 2010, Retrieved on 23 July 2013.Savastano, David
"Printed Electronics Industry: Year in Review"
''Ink World'', February 2011, Retrieved on 23 July 2013. In November 2012, Kovio and Nedap Retail announced a new Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) label that can be integrated directly into clothing, shoes, and other products to discourage shoplifting. The product is sold by Nedap Retail under the ‘!FaST’ brand name. In March 2013, Kovio announced a strategic partnership with Symphony Teleca to co-develop software services to bring big data analytics to NFC-based mobile marketing campaigns. Kovio is a principal member of the

NFC Forum Near-field communication (NFC) is a set of communication protocols that enables communication between two electronic devices over a distance of 4 cm (1 in) or less. NFC offers a low-speed connection through a simple setup that can be u ...

."NFC Forum Principal Members"
''NFC Forum website'', Retrieved on 22 July 2013.

Investors

Kovio raised over US$100 million in its venture financing.Barron, Rache
“Spray-On Electronics”
''greentechmedia'', 13 November 2007, Retrieved on 23 July 2013.Basich, Zoran (ed
"What's New: The Latest on Technology"
''The Wall Street Journal'', September 14, 2009, Retrieved on 23 July 2013.Clarke, Pete
"Kovio raises $15 million for printed NFC"
''EE Times'', 9 June 2011, Retrieved on 23 July 2013. Prominent investors include

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Kleiner Perkins, formerly Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), is an American venture capital firm which specializes in investing in incubation, early stage and growth companies. Since its founding in 1972, the firm has backed entrepreneurs ...

DAG Ventures DAG Ventures is an American venture capital firm based in Palo Alto, California. DAG Ventures works with startups in providing early stage and growth stage funding. Since its founding in 2004, by Tom Goodrich and John Cadeddu, the firm has backed ...

, Tyco Retail Solutions, Harris & Harris Group, Flagship Venture Partners, Pangaea Ventures, and others."VB Profiles: Kovio"
''VentureBeat'', Retrieved on 23 July 2013.

References

{{reflist * * * * 2001 establishments in California Manufacturing companies based in San Jose, California Companies established in 2001 Electronics companies of the United States Privately held companies based in California