Award winning New Zealand tech innovator, Fingermark, has secured a cornerstone investment from global water, hygiene and infection prevention leader, Ecolab. This investment includes a multimillion dollar capital injection that will support Fingermark’s rapidly rising global growth trajectory.
Luke Irving, Founder and Chief Executive of Fingermark, hailed the deal as transformative. “This is a true collaboration that will help both companies better serve global Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) customers and further establish Fingermark’s growing reputation,” said Irving.
Fingermark is an industry leading computer vision and self ordering technology provider to some of the world’s largest Enterprise QSR brands. Their technology provides automation that supports restaurant processes to enhance profitability and competitiveness, reduce costs, mitigate labour shortages and meet heightened customer expectations.
A trusted partner for millions of customers, Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) is a global sustainability leader with annual sales of $15 billion and 48,000 associates serving customers in more than 170 countries around the world. Ecolab’s innovative solutions improve operational efficiencies and sustainability for customers in the food, healthcare, life sciences, hospitality and industrial markets.
“For more than 100 years, Ecolab has worked to help our hospitality and foodservice customers achieve their operational and sustainability goals,” says Chris Loflin, Senior Vice President & General Manager Global QSR. “Teaming up with Fingermark will help us address modern operational challenges and begin delivering on the promise of AI and computer vision technology at scale for our global QSR customers.”
“There is massive change in the Global QSR sector as the move to automation gathers pace,” Irving comments. “While this is just the start of our work with Ecolab, they see Fingermark as playing a critical role in the long-term strategies for the QSR market.”
Irving says Fingermark’s growing success is also an endorsement of the New Zealand tech sector. “We may be on the edge of global markets but our work and that of others in the New Zealand tech sector are putting this country on the map,” Irving says. “The Prime Minister and Minister of Trade have both set ambitious goals around growing exports and attracting foreign investment and I believe our tech sector is going to deliver on those targets – look at what we’ve done here, and the best is still to come.”
At the latest AmCham awards, where Fingermark won the DHL Express Success & Innovation Award for Technology Exporter of the Year to the United States, the judges noted the company’s dedication, innovation, and capacity to succeed on a global scale.
The judging criteria included showcasing a deep passion for achieving business success, fostering innovation and harnessing marketing opportunities, with Fingermark exemplifying these characteristics, as well as the power of innovation, collaboration, and determination, said the judges.
