Nokia Growth Partners leads round together with existing investors in NFC specialist INSIDE Contactless

Aix en Provence France, December 11th, 2007–INSIDE Contactless, the world leader in contactless payment chips and NFC technologies for mobile devices, today announced a new round of investment led by Nokia Growth Partners, the global private equity and venture capital management arm of Nokia (NYSE:NOK), the world leader in mobility.

This new investment round of €25m ($38m), will allow the company to accelerate its international presence and broaden its product portfolio.

This major milestone caps a brilliant 2007 year for INSIDE. This year it saw the successful launch of its new MicroRead NFC platform and the delivery of 35 million MicroPass intelligent payment platforms for the US contactless payments market.

“This is more than a financial investment, this is about a strategic partnership with key players who are committed to building and driving the NFC eco-system”, says Rémy de Tonnac, CEO of INSIDE Contactless. “Three years ago a similar strategic investment was made with Visa which brought the company to a leading position in the field of Contactless payment. We hope that this new development for INSIDE will lead to a similar success in the NFC market.”

Rob Trice, a Partner at Nokia Growth Partners, commented, “We are pleased to have an opportunity to invest in a global innovator like INSIDE Contactless. Their focus on payments and on the many other exciting applications of NFC chip technology is unparalleled. We look forward to collaborating with INSIDE and our partners in the industry poised for the take off of NFC. ”

Nokia Growth Partners’ participation in the round is a strong vote of confidence both in the NFC marketplace and in INSIDE Contactless’ differentiated technology. Nokia Growth Partners is well positioned to see the emergence of contactless and NFC through its ties to Nokia and its previous investment in Vivotech, the leading provider of contactless point-of-sale reader technology and NFC mobile payment infrastructure software.

This investment round also includes existing institutional investors including Sofinnova Partners, Vertex Management, Vertex Ventures, Siparex, GIMV, EuroUS Venture, Granite Global Ventures and Visa Ventures.

About INSIDE Contactless

As the only fabless semiconductor company focused exclusively upon contactless chip platforms, INSIDE Contactless is a market leader in Near Field Communication (NFC), contactless payments, and access control. Innovation in contactless technology has led to more than 55 patents granted to INSIDE, including several essential NFC technology patents. INSIDE is the #1 market share provider of contactless bank card applications in the world, with more than 35 million MicroPass intelligent payment platforms delivered from launch in 2005 through 2007. These MicroPass platforms power cards from more than 20 leading bank card issuers. More than 25 key partners around the world, including major card manufacturers and handset providers, have successfully delivered contactless products such as payment & access cards, point of sale terminals, NFC enabled mobile handsets, and other products which are ‘powered by INSIDE’. INSIDE Contactless is headquartered in Aix-en-Provence, France, with offices in Shanghai, Singapore, Poland, San Francisco, and Boston. For more information, please visit http://www.insidecontactless.com.

About Nokia Growth Partners

Nokia Growth Partners is a leading global growth stage venture firm focused on mobile technology, services and media. Nokia Growth Partners is funded by Nokia to provide superior returns and investments into companies, firms, and people that are changing the face of mobility, communications, and the internet. Headquartered in Menlo Park, California with US $200M under management, Nokia Growth Partners works closely with the companies in which it invests adding value through deep domain expertise in the mobility market combined with many years of venture investment experience. For more information visit http://www.nokiagrowthpartners.com.

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