2 August 2024

Palmki strengthens its growth strategy with new capital for European expansion

Palmki™, a leading provider of biometric technology and solutions for access control in buildings and events, time registration, and integrated payments, has raised capital from banks, existing shareholders, and the Limburg investment company LRM. With this capital, the company from Hasselt aims to further scale and internationalize its operations. In Belgium and the Netherlands, it has already convinced many large companies of its technology, including the European institutions, football clubs KAA Gent, Fortuna Sittard, and KAS Eupen.

In 2019, Marc Strackx founded Perfect ID, an innovative technology company that focuses on palm-based biometric authentication under the brand name ‘Palmki’. "Palmki is a digital key that uses the vein pattern in your palm to verify your identity. In other words, it is a user-friendly biometric identification technology that provides access to buildings, rooms, machines, data, time registration, payments, etc.," explains owner Marc Strackx.

Authentication within one second

Palmki's technology is based on the internal structure of the human palm. This is an important difference from other biometric identification technologies, which often use external features such as fingerprints or facial recognition. Marc Strackx says, "The vein pattern in the palm is unique for everyone. Even identical twins have different patterns. Moreover, the vein pattern cannot currently be replicated, unlike external features. Furthermore, Palmki is a very hygienic technology, as scanning the palm can be done without physically touching the Palmki scanner." Also noteworthy: Palmki generates a very fast authentication, usually within one second, and has an error acceptance rate of less than 0.00001%.

Palmki in daily life and the workplace

Perfect-ID is supported by Fulcrum Biometrics (Fujitsu Company) and Fujitsu Belgium. This collaboration underscores both the innovative character and the European ambitions of Palmki, which focuses on three main domains. The first domain is access control for buildings, gates, safes, devices, etc. The second domain includes access control at events and sports matches, from the registration process, ticketing, access control (via turnstiles), and on-the-spot control to catering payments. The third domain encompasses integrated payment solutions for food and beverage kiosks at event locations. A pilot project is already underway for this.

In a few years, the company from Hasselt has already added several prestigious names to its reference list. It has provided Palmki controllers with two-factor authentication, the highest level of control, at three locations in the European institutions. A large-scale project is also set to launch soon in collaboration with VLAIO and UGent to enhance football security at KAA Gent matches while respecting the fan experience.

International expansion

With a well-filled reference list, Marc Strackx is now eager to take Palmki to the next level and roll it out internationally. His well-founded story, sense of innovation, and vision for the future have already convinced the Limburg investment company LRM to step in with capital, combined with bank financing and contributions from existing investors and business angels, including Angelwise, Ismaël Ben-Al-Lal, and Frank Staut.

Jan Vorstermans from Angelwise says, "We believe in the future of Palmki technology, as the security of personal identification with the necessary privacy will only grow in importance in the future."

Gunter Plevoets, head of corporate lending at LRM, adds, "In just a few years, Marc has achieved an impressive trajectory with Palmki. He has also quickly convinced large companies that place great importance on security and GDPR compliance with his technology. This shows that experts trust Palmki and see potential in this technology. With LRM, we are happy to invest capital so that this Limburg company can continue to grow in Belgium and Europe."

Marc Strackx, CEO of Perfect-ID, concludes, "The inclusion of LRM in our capital is crucial for Perfect-ID. It provides us not only with the financial strength to further stimulate the innovation and growth of Palmki but also with strategic support and confidence from our clients. This support allows us to accelerate our growth, expand internationally, and strengthen our position as a market leader."