Global Lost & Found has raised a first round of funding for its business of tracking lost portable electronics. The amount was not disclosed.
DFJ Frontier led the round and Sand Hill Angels participated. The San Bruno, Calif.,-based company has an asset tracking and recovery service. You purchase a $10 E-Tracker I.D. for any kind of device ($25 for a laptop) and affix the I.D. to the device. If it is lost or stolen, the label makes it easy to return the item. And the finder gets a reward such as a $10 gift card for portable devices such as cell phones or music players. A returned laptop can fetch a $25 gift card reward.
The company has a variety of competition. Absolute Software of Vancouver, Canada, makes the computer theft recovery products under the Computrace LoJack for Laptops brand. That company’s asset tracking software is embedded in a variety of laptops — Dell, Lenovo, Gateway, HP, and Fujitsu. All of the companies are thriving based on the rise of laptop theft and the accompanying identity theft that goes with it. Other companies that do this include Vontu, STOP, GadgetTrak, and FrontDoor Software.
Ken Westin, GadgetTrak’s founder, said his company can offer recovery service for laptops and all sorts of gadgets. His company also supplies “lost and found” stickers for devices that are lost.
Global Lost & Found products are now available to consumers through Tiger Direct, CompUSA, and Fry’s Electronics.
