GoToTags Brings NFC to the IoT

GoToTags, a provider of end-to-end software and tag solutions for Near Field Communication deployments, announced that the company has raised $300,000 in funding from Los Angeles-based Mucker Capital, which will be spread out to departments such as new hires and Sales and Marketing.

William Hsu, co-founder and managing partner at Mucker, led the firm’s investment in GoToTags. Mucker Capital invests in seed and “pre-seed” stage companies building defensible and scalable businesses in Internet software, services and media. GoToTags was founded in 2011 and is based in Seattle, Washington. The company offers an NFC solution for IoT projects. Near Field Communication is a short-range wireless connectivity technology that works at about 4 centimeters or less.

The company has enabled millions of NFC tags on its platform and has serviced more than 15,000 IoT deployments. These projects include smart railways, agricultural tracking systems, NFC medical records, interactive museums, and an NFC voting system.

“NFC is finally supported by all the phone manufacturers and the phase of pilot projects is now shifting to large scale deployments,” said Jan Svoboda, a long-time RFID and NFC industry executive and GoToTags advisor.

The iPhone 6 and the Apple watch have the tags in them, but currently they can only be used in “closed” ecosystems or deployments where the NFC reader is controlled to a device that can read NFC tags, and not the general population. The iPhone 6 and Apple Watch can use ApplePay, which is powered by NFC.

“Android has a high focus in the NFC world as its been supported since late 2010 with the original Google Nexus phone,” said Craig Tadlock, founder and CEO of GoToTags. Around the world, the Android device is dominant and cheaper than iPhone, so given the 5 years and lower price point there are hundred-millions of NFC-enabled Android phones in the market.