Biometrics Specialist Aware Posts Q2 2020 Update

“As we look to the future, our positioning is strong having established a secure remote work process and cloud infrastructure, enabling a seamless virtual working environment.” – Bob Eckel, CEO, Aware, Inc.

Biometrics specialist Aware, Inc. has announced its latest quarterly results, which indicate that it is one of the many companies to have taken a hit from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Revenues for the second quarter came in at $1.9 million, compared to revenues of $3 million in Q2 of 2019. Meanwhile, the company’s operating loss increased from a loss of $1.2 million a year ago to $3.7 million in the latest quarter.

In a statement, the biometrics software and solutions provider explained that part of the reason for the lower revenues was the impact of COVID-19, which caused “implementation and procurement delays”. The pandemic also prompted expenses that contributed to its operating loss, among other expenses including those related to executive turnover.

Aware’s net result in the second quarter of 2020 was a loss of $3.1 million, compared to a net loss of $0.9 million in Q2 of 2019. Looking to the whole first half of the year, Aware is reporting a net loss of $4.2 million, compared to a net loss of $0.7 million in the first half of 2019.

Despite the negative impact of COVID-19, Aware CEO Bob Eckel was remarkably upbeat in commenting on the company’s performance and prospects, asserting that he is encouraged by customers’ support for its Knomi mobile biometric onboarding solution.

“Our subscription-based business continues to grow, even against the backdrop of delayed procurements and postponed government programs temporarily impacting our licensing and services offerings,” he said, adding later, “As we look to the future, our positioning is strong having established a secure remote work process and cloud infrastructure, enabling a seamless virtual working environment.”

Eckel did acknowledge that Aware anticipates ongoing procurement delays due to the pandemic, but he noted that the company has invested in “engineering and sales resources to drive new growth,” and he joined the chorus of industry watchers predicting that the pandemic will help to further drive interest in biometric technologies – particularly contactless solutions – going forward. “Biometric enablement will be a key component of next generation solutions born out of these challenges,” he said.

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July 29, 2020 – by Alex Perala