The Austin Chamber of Commerce and the Central Texas Regional Center of Innovation and Commercialization (CenTex RCIC) announce that the state of Texas has chosen Merkatum Corporation as the recipient of an award funded through the Texas Emerging Technology Fund (ETF). The company, a leading developer and provider of multi-biometric identity management solutions, will receive a $250,000 pre-seed project award to expedite the commercialization of innovative web-based software systems.

“The CenTex RCIC is aimed specifically at helping entrepreneurs in the Greater Austin region move closer to a commercial product,” said Jeff King, Partner Haynes & Boone, LLP and Chairman of the CenTex RCIC. “This funding will help Merkatum complete prototypes and move towards a sellable product, so that it can attract additional financing and expand even more.”

Merkatum develops and sells innovative systems based on multi-modal fingerprint and facial recognition identity technologies. Rather than marketing and deploying complex and expensive project-based biometrics solutions, Merkatum is packing its patent-pending software platform and its proven industry expertise into a server-based product with the intention to market a low-cost and easy system to configure, deploy and maintain.

“Merkatum is pleased and excited to be selected as the recipient of an Emerging Technology Fund award,” said Jose Luque, President and CEO Merkatum. “The capital infusion will help our company’s product development and commercialization activities and will position us to continue growing in an aggressive and profitable manner.”

Merkatum will become a key player in the industry’s future growth by breaking cost and complexity barriers currently inhibiting various market verticals with its unique biometrics system. The company is experienced in deploying biometric solutions, in developing web-based software systems and in operating in dynamic start-up tech environments.

“Merkatum is a perfect example of a company with a modern technology that needed a limited amount of additional funding to reach the next critical stage,” said Dr. Juan Sanchez, Vice President for Research University of Texas at Austin. “This award was enough to help them accomplish the steps to get there.”

Merkatum was selected by the CenTex RCIC after an extensive due diligence process based on multiple criteria including a stringent analyses of the market and financial opportunity, technology potential, management team and economic impact to Texas. They are an active member of the Austin Technology Incubator’s Technology Business Accelerator (TechBA) program through the University of Texas at Austin.

The CenTex RCIC is a virtual center that operates out of the Austin Chamber of Commerce and serves as a catalyst for emerging technology research, development, commercialization and start-up incubation. In an effort to keep Texas globally competitive, the CenTex RCIC focuses on integrating technology development and commercialization in a 15-county region.

The CenTex RCIC works closely with the Chamber’s AusTech Alliance, a group of technology businesses and organizations working to consolidate efforts that strengthen the regional technology sector and to keep Texas globally competitive. The Central Texas Angel Network (CTAN), which aims to assist local entrepreneurs with investment opportunities, also works with the CenTex RCIC, ETF and the universities to identify capital for start-ups.