Rocky Hill, Conn., March 1, 2007 – Connecticut Innovations (CI), the state’s quasi-public authority responsible for technology investing and innovation development, today announced that it has completed an investment of up to $1 million in LegiTime Technologies Inc. of Westport, Connecticut. CI’s investment was part of a Series A round totaling close to $2.5 million. CI invested alongside MSBi Capital and earlier seed investors.
The company’s “Demonstration of Legitimacy" (DOL) technology framework addresses the sizable mobile security market – expected to grow to $5 billion by 2011. LegiTime plans on licensing its DOL technology to carriers, original equipment manufacturers, system integrators and software developers to provide an end-to-end secure environment for an unlimited variety of communication applications and services. By implementing LegiTime's DOL technology, mobile developers and carriers will be able to provide high quality application services and protect networks and subscribers from spam, malware and denial of service attacks.
LegiTime's technology is the first to offer a unique solution that embodies a concept known as “proof of work.” This highly secure, straightforward “trusted source” approach leverages robust, unbreakable algorithms that underpin today’s electronic banking transactions. Traditional spam and malware mitigation tools screen incoming communications based on a communication’s content or information about the sender. LegiTime’s innovative new DOL technology creates a “trusted source” for all communication service types. The flexible DOL technology freely combines with existing security techniques. The sender demonstrates legitimacy by performing computations that are unique to a given message type, while the recipient validates the message as a trusted source.
“We are pleased to be an investor in this dynamic company and to have played a role in its decision to locate in Connecticut,” said Peter Longo, executive vice president and chief investment officer of CI. Longo continued, “The company, whose technology was developed by John Swain, LegiTime’s chief science officer and a physics professor at Northeastern University, shows tremendous promise thanks to the early incubation assistance provided by MSBi Capital of Montreal. With this new round of funding, the company will be able to forge ahead with its innovative technology, addressing real-world challenges in securing mobile communication.”
“The funds from this round will be used to further develop our security framework and launch our marketing and sales efforts,” said Eric Strauss, co-founder and chief executive officer of LegiTime Technologies.
Strauss continued, “We are excited to have Connecticut Innovations as an investor. They provide value beyond financing. The organization has a successful track record helping Connecticut-based early stage companies achieve sustainable growth by providing essential support and guidance. As a result of their support, we were able to enroll in the University of Connecticut’s Innovation Accelerator program, designed to provide MBA students with work experience during a 13-week assignment. Thanks to CI, LegiTime now has an elite team of MBA students from one of the nation’s top business schools providing help with marketing and corporate strategy.”
LegiTime expects to have its first product available in the fall and is currently seeking partnerships with mobile carriers, integrators and developers.
About Connecticut Innovations, Inc.
Connecticut Innovations (CI) is a quasi-public organization dedicated to driving a vibrant, entrepreneurial, technology-based economy in Connecticut. CI stimulates high-tech growth by investing in: early-stage Connecticut technology companies; university/industry research collaborations; technology transfer; and, clean energy initiatives through the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund. CI also fosters collaboration among government, business, non-profit and academic organizations to advance technology growth and promotes public policies consistent with CI’s mission. For more information on CI, please visit www.ctinnovations.com.
About LegiTime Technologies Inc.
LegiTime Technologies, located in Westport, CT is the first to develop a mobile security framework that reliably protects the network and its users from unsolicited communication by implementing a "trusted source" policy without a-priori exchange. LegiTime’s Demonstration of Legitimacy (DOL) Technology creates an easily integrated, customizable application and communication security platform, which protects networks from malware, spam, denial of service and other open system threats. By licensing its DOL technology to members of the mobile ecosystem, LegiTime transparently offers users unmatched protection with a hierarchy of "trust levels" and communication security such as authentication/verification, data integrity, non-repudiation, priority delivery and accounting services. LegiTime’s current product implements this technology across the Short Messaging Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) mobile messaging platforms. For more information on LegiTime, please send a request to info@legitime.net.
About MSBi Capital
MSBi Capital is a seed and early stage venture capital fund dedicated to commercializing innovations in information technology, life sciences, and the physical sciences. MSBi Capital has a particular focus on establishing and building companies based on technology advancements and inventions originating from the universities of McGill, Sherbrooke and Bishop’s, as well as their affiliated hospitals and research institutes. More information about MSBi is available at www.msbi.ca.
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