Motorola Solutions’ investment could pay in the future
You can’t exactly say Schaumburg-based Motorola Solutions Venture Capital, the company’s investment unit, is on a spree. But it’s already made significant investments, upward to $5 million, in a number of companies so far this year, including Visage, Vocera and Retailigence. This week, it made another such investment in Fixmo, a Sterling, Va.-based provider of mobile security and other products for both the public and private sectors. And that’s just the area that Motorola wants.
Motorola has been partnering with a number of smaller companies that can provide niche products and services that will better keep police, firefighters, other first responders safe. It also could be used by retailers and other business owners, because security is vital regardless of the sector, said Palatine resident Tony Palcheck, managing director of Motorola’s investment arm.
“More government and public safety as well as retailers are using smartphones and sometimes they can be compromised by a virus,” Palcheck said. “Fixmo will help protect those devices from intruders.”
Motorola’s investment will help Fixmo expand its development and product lines. That all helps Motorola in the future and the Schaumburg company then can offer their clients some of those Fixmo innovations.
Such investments don’t mean the two companies will eventually merge operations or workforces. Still, the two continue to have conversations on a regular basis, he adds.
Motorola Solutions is expected to continue its investments in more such companies. It’s particularly interested in security products and video solutions for surveillance, he added.
“We’re going to continue to search for great companies,” he said.
Surfing: Oak Brook-based SWC Technology Partners, which has already hired 43 new employees since January, is on a hiring spree again. This time, they’re looking for analysts, developers, engineers programmers, engagement managers and sales representatives. And co-workers are helping with the hunt. They could earn a $2,000 bonus for each successful employee referral, enter a raffle offering a trip to Europe worth $10,000 and a week’s paid vacation for successful hires. There’s even employee videos on the company website touting the virtues of working at SWC.
ŸUnited Airlines launched its MileagePlus Digital Media Store, a first-of-its-kind in the airline industry, that gives MileagePlus members the opportunity to use miles for music tracks, albums and movies. The store features a full catalog of music, movies and TV shows.
Ÿ The Capital Development Board, the state’s construction agency, has a new website at www.illinois.gov/cdb. The board administers all non-road, state-funded construction projects.
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