Startup Team Builds NFC Solution, Taps Local Industry Leader for Equipment and Software Support

Austin, TX – July 3, 2012 – Gemalto, the world leader in digital security, is assisting The University of Texas (UT) at Austin in its 1 Semester Startup (1SS) program, led by Professor of Innovation and Murchison Fellow of Free Enterprise Bob Metcalfe. Each semester approximately 10 teams are accepted, drawn from undergraduate students who apply with an idea for a startup business. The program aims to promote and advance these “Longhorn Startups” by teaching the fundamentals of company formation and offering real-world resources to incubate entrepreneurial endeavors.

Gemalto will provide a 1SS team comprised of engineering students with Near-Field Communication (NFC) tags and software developer suites to further test and develop a platform for its startup project–Lynxin, aiming to connect corporations to consumers by designing customized promotions. Gemalto has a long track record of developing NFC technology through extensive R&D and more than 50 mobile NFC projects worldwide.

NFC is a wireless technology that enables communication over short distances between a mobile device and a reader. People can use NFC for many convenient purposes including paying at restaurants, accessing public transport and parking, accessing buildings and other entryways and even reading smart posters to engage in advertising and couponing specials.

“Gemalto is a global leader with many NFC deployments under its belt,” said Metcalfe, inventor of Ethernet and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.”Gemalto’s partnering with this startup team of Cockrell School of Engineering students is a great example of the Austin innovation ecology in action. How fortunate we are to have the North American headquarters of this billion-dollar security company in our midst and with such a great attitude toward innovation.”

“At Gemalto we embrace the opportunities to support up-and-coming entrepreneurs in the technology space, especially right here in our own backyard,” said Paul Beverly, President of Gemalto North America. “Technology moves at a break-neck pace, as these selected young engineers are certainly learning. Any head start we can give them as they move the industry forward benefits us all.”

For more information on Gemalto’s NFC tags, developer suites and deployments, visit http://www.gemalto.com.

For more information on 1SS at The University of Texas at Austin, visit http://www.1semesterstartup.com

About Gemalto

Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO) is the world leader in digital security with 2011 annual revenues of €2 billion and more than 10,000 employees operating out of 74 offices and 14 Research & Development centers in 43 countries.

We are at the heart of our rapidly evolving digital society. Billions of people worldwide increasingly want the freedom to communicate, travel, shop, bank, entertain and work–anytime, everywhere–in ways that are convenient, enjoyable and secure. Gemalto delivers on their expanding needs for personal mobile services, payment security, identity protection, authenticated online services, cloud computing access, eHealthcare and eGovernment services, modern transportation solutions and machine-to-machine (M2M) communication.

Gemalto develops secure software that runs on trusted devices which we design and personalize. We manage these devices, the confidential data they contain and the services they enable, throughout their life cycle. We innovate so that our clients can offer more ways of enhancing the convenience and security of their end-users’ digital lives.

Gemalto is thriving with the growing number of people using its software and secure devices to interact in the digital and wireless world.

For more information visit http://www.gemalto.com, http://www.justaskgemalto.com, blog.gemalto.com, or follow @gemalto on Twitter.

Gemalto Media Contacts:

Nicole Smith
North America
+1 512 257 3902
nicole.smith@gemalto.com

Blair Poloskey
INK Public Relations
+1 512 382 8983
blair@ink-pr.com

Kristel Teyras
Europe, Middle East & Africa
+33 1 55 01 57 89
kristel.teyras@gemalto.com

Ernesto Haikewitsch
Latin America
+55 11 5105 9220
ernesto.haikewitsch@gemalto.com

Yvonne Lim
Asia Pacific
+65 6317 3730
Yvonne.lim@gemalto.com