CopSonic

Orange Labs Rennes has tested the CopSonic ultrasound technology as part of research work aimed at providing an end-to-end digital path management solution for smartphone users. The CopSonic ultrasound solution will complement technologies already in place (Bluetooth, Lifi).



On November 28 in Châtillon, CopSonic will present in an event organised by Orange, its ultrasound technology at the Lifi-Forum.

On November 28 in Toulouse during the Orange Business Tour, CopSonic will present its ultrasonics to Orange Business Services' customers and partners.



Paris, November 28, 2017 - The French scaleup in strong growth, CopSonic, which joined EIT Digital in the summer of 2017 to accelerate its growth plans and access new markets and European funding, confirms its development with important commitments validated with Orange Labs.



Emmanuel Ruiz, CEO and Founder of CopSonic explains: "We are very pleased with the trust placed in us by Orange. This is a very important agreement for us because it gives us a solid credibility in the framework of our European expansion for which the accelerator of EIT Digital accompanies us".



Founded in 1989, CopSonic enables highly-secured communication and interaction between devices through a unique system of ultrasound waves. CopSonic technology is hardware agnostic: data transfers for transactions like contactless secured payments, controlling smart home devices or contactless computer logins in a highly secured way are achieved through a device’s existing microphones and speakers. No specific additional hardware is required (unlike Bluetooth LE, NFC, or Lifi). The authentication and control of the system occur on CopSonic’s online and offline platforms.



About CopSonic



CopSonic (www.copsonic.com) is a French family company founded in 1989.

Specialized over 20 years in digital audio solutions and new technologies, they are one of the first companies to have developed mixing mp3 players and audio effects in 1996 (Virtual Dj+ from GMixon).

Its Audio R&D Laboratory has been studying over the past years the communication and encryption of digital data and has discovered the possibility of modulating digital data into sound (acoustic waves). In 2013, the company filed patent applications around this innovation and started the introduction of the technology on the international market as a contactless universal mobile payment solution. The CopSonic technology was made public in 2013 and dedicated its activities to the development and marketing of the different ultrasonic connectivity solutions. In the following months, the technology rapidly evolved proposing new use cases in 3 activity sectors: Security, IoT and Proximity.



Clients in beta testing: Natixis, Airbus, Cora, Accenture.



Key Business Targets include:

- Cyber Security: e-payments, identity management, ATM/POS/EPT interaction

- Secured IOT Connectivity: remote control for IOT and switches, industrial IOT, E-locks

- Proximity: Crowd interaction, Indoor-location, geofencing/ geomarketing

CopSonic, an EIT Digital supported French scaleup, and Pivo Wallet Oy, part of the largest  Finnish financial group, OP Financial Group (OP), have announced a technology licensing agreement. The agreement opens for OP an access to CopSonic's patented digital data stream and signal encoding/decoding technology ("codec") for creating a secure data transmission channel over the air through sound waves. The secure transfer is achieved through microphones and speakers. The first of the OP's use cases based on this technology were displayed at the world's leading startup event Slush.



The now-announced technology license agreement allows the open use of CopSonic's sound based digital data stream and signal encoding/decoding technology. Brian Roeten, CopSonic's Chief Operating Officer explained the techonology:



"Using sound waves is an alternative or complement to solutions using traditional electromagnetic radio wave-based technologies such as Near Field Communication (NFC) or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), both struggling with compatibility rates on the end user side."



In addition to its software development kit (SDK), CopSonic provides its expertise for the OP Financial Group to perform multiple use cases. The first of the use cases based on person-to-person (P2P) payments and POS interaction for providing a new universal and secured solution for payments were displayed at the OP Lab booth in the Slush startup event, organized in Helsinki, Finland, between November 30th and December 1st.



"We at OP are always looking for new possible solutions and partners to meet the growing needs of the market and users for modern, safe and scalable payment solutions. Payment is rapidly evolving at the moment, and the co-operation with CopSonic opens new possibilities for us for innovation and product development" , comments Head of OP Lab, Kristian Luoma.



Mr Roeten continued:

"CopSonic is proud to partner with OP Finance Group to scale in the Nordics based on a realistic and smart approach to the market. Finland as a financial service market is very advanced in its digitizing process - which turns this cooperation into a challenge to meet the expectations for security and user experience."



Earlier in November CopSonic announced engaging in collaboration with the Orange Labs, the research and development division of Orange telecomminications operator.



About the parties:



OP Financial Group is the largest financial group in Finland. OP provides its customers with the best loyalty benefits and the widest financial services offering including banking, wealth management and non-life insurance services. OP has three business lines: Banking, Non-life Insurance and Wealth Management.



Founded in 1989, CopSonic enables highly-secured communication and interaction between devices through a unique system of ultrasound waves. CopSonic technology is hardware agnostic: data transfers for transactions like contactless secured payments, controlling smart home devices or contactless computer logins in a highly secured way are achieved through a device's existing microphones and speakers. No specific additional hardware is required (unlike Bluetooth LE, NFC, or Lifi). The authentication and control of the system occur on CopSonic's online and offline platforms.



CopSonic domiciled in France joined EIT Digital Accelerator scaleup program in May 2017.