The CEO of NeoMedia on mobile barcodes, scale and Latin America

I gave Iain McCready NeoMedia’s CEO a call yesterday to find out more about the recent partnership with Bems.

Below is an outline of what we discussed.

Bena: Hi Iain, I just wanted to have a quick chat to you about Bems and Neustar and what these deals mean to you.

Iain: No Problem.

Bena: Tell me about Bems. Who are they and how did you find them?

Iain: Bems is a very exciting Spanish mobile barcode business. It is strongly financed by a number of high level individuals that have a strong reputation in the Spanish and Latin American market. We met them at Mobile World Congress this year and actually it was Telefonica that introduced us.

We kept the conversation alive with Bems and we are delighted that now we are partnering in Latin America.

Bena: How big is the deal?

Iain: Bems will use our NeoReader, Gateway, Hardware and Ticketing platform. This will be for all 13 countries in Latin America.

Bena: OK. So it’s a full scale partnership where you collaborate in every way in the Latin American market.

Iain: Yes. Bems believes that ticketing is going to scale in Latin America especially in Mexico and Brazil and we have the best technology to realise this potential.

Bena: But Telefonica is with Scanbuy in Spain.

Iain: Yes.

Bena: Jumping off topic slightly because I mentioned Scanbuy – any news on a deal for licensing the barcodes?

Iain: We have both asked for an extension and I can’t say much more.

Bena: OK. Sorry, but I had to ask! Back on topic what does Bems mean for NeoMedia as a business?

Iain: Scale. We have had a tough ride but as we build our strategy and our business we are looking at scale for success. The first step was NeuStar. The second step is Bems.

Bena: When you say scale how do you mean? You miss out on a license fee from Bems don’t you?

Iain: Not at all. Bems will also license our IP. We have the IP and we have to protect it now. But Bems is about global scale being embedded via Telefonica into handsets in the Latin American market. Reaching 13 different countries offering all our business services from platforms to ticketing to readers.

Bena: And Neustar?

Iain: Not only will Neustar license our IP. It will be our main gateway for licensing in the US.

Bena: You mean that Neustar will manage the IP licensing in the US?

Iain: Yes.

Bena: I have to admit Iain, I didn’t understand that from the original press release. How does that work?

Iain: Well. We are an open fair business Bena. Neustar has connections globally and a lot of partners. It will manage and control our licensing in the US. All new deals will go via Neustar. This is scale for us as it means that we can provide a stellar licensing service in the US that will keep the indirect code market alive.

Bena: Several people have asked me about your licensing and are extremely worried about the cost.

Iain: They shouldn’t be. We have a number of licensing options that start from free or actually revenue share.

Bena: So there are no upfront fees?

Iain: Yes. We work with the GSMA, GS1 and OMA we want to make mobile barcodes a global success. We are the leaders in the market and the first with this technology and the ideas. We have the patents and we intend to promote the standards globally. Our licensing can be all revenue share to a licensing fee and minority revenue share or just a license fee.

Bena: OK. So what about your other patents? Are you going to do anything with them.

Iain: We just finished a patent review which took a long time. We have the potential now to move forward with our other patents. Some we will sell. Some we will use and some we will give away. But we are a growing business.

Bena: OK Iain. I am going to my first GS1 summit in Paris next month. The lovely people from Nestle invited me. Will you be there?

Iain: Yes. See you in Paris!