Drayson Technologies Freevolt - Scalable technology to enable innovative smart card solutions

The Problem

Global Credit card and debit card fraud resulted in losses amounting to $28.65 billion during 2019, up 18% from 2017
(Nilson Report - Global Fraud)

Fraud losses on UK issued cards totalled £574.2 million in 2020, a 2% increase from £565.4 million in 2017
(UK Finance)

The average total cost of a data breach was $3.86 million in 2020, with physical security identified as the root cause in 10% of malicious attacks.
(IBM Security)

Identity fraudsters have stolen $112 billion over the past six years — that’s around $35,600 every minute
(Security Intelligence)

The industry is seeking to solve these problems through enhanced on-card security techniques (e.g. biometrics, dynamic CVV, tokenisation)

New security features require additional power, however adding batteries or external chargers to existing card technologies is not optimal

Our Technology

Radio Frequency Energy Harvesting

Drayson Technologies’ radio frequency energy harvesting technology (Freevolt) is capable of using existing RF sources, such as Point-of-Sale (POS) terminals, in order to combat card fraud by unlocking additional power to drive biometrics, Dynamic CVV, and other enhanced security measures.

Generating higher power, enabling greater functionality

No regulatory or infrastructure changes - works with existing card technologies

Enables better security and UX/speed

Fits into existing card footprint and thickness

Uses off-the-shelf components

No recharging or changing batteries: it works whenever you position it next to a card machine

Proprietary technology with multiple patents filed / granted

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More Power = More Security

Our Solution

Tighter Control: Maintain 2-Factor Authentication, with additional security layer possible (3FA)

Removes Threat from Card Loss: Only named individual can use the card to gain access

Scalable & Easy to Adopt: Works with existing access control systems, no changes required

Better Privacy & GDPR Compliance: Fingerprint hash encrypted and stored on the card (never leaves the card)

Improved Hygiene: Secure, contactless entry now possible post COVID-19 pandemic

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News and Press Releases

Drayson Technologies Develops Next Generation Biometric Smart Cards Powered By Freevolt Energy Harvesting (June 2021).

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Drayson Technologies Awarded Innovate UK Grant To Develop Next Generation Smart Cards Powered By Freevolt (January 2021).

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Drayson Technologies extends technology license with CardLab to provide the latest third generation Freevolt energy harvesting technology to power smartcards (February 2020).

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Drayson Technologies signs a technology licensing agreement with CardLab for the use of Freevolt world leading energy-harvesting technology to power biometric smartcards (December 2018).

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Drayson Technologies listed in 2017 Tech Tour Growth 50 – Europe’s 50 future unicorns.

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Drayson technologies wins global recognition for Freevolt at idtechex show.

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Drayson Technologies works with CST on the development of its Freevolt^TM technology.

Read moreNEWS

About Us

Who We Are

Drayson Technologies is a UK technology company developing Freevolt power harvesting solutions that convert radio frequency (RF) energy into usable direct current.

Spun out from work done at Imperial College London, and developed over 7 years, Freevolt is a global award-winning suite of proprietary, patented and patent pending technologies that recycle and harvest RF energy from radio transmission networks (NFC, cellular, Wi-Fi, etc.) to power devices such as smart cards, sensors, and wearables. Smart Cards are our lead commercial application.

We are based in London, UK with a team of international engineers bringing strong experience in RF energy harvesting, semiconductors, and associated power and control technologies, from a variety of industries. Our experienced board is led by Lord Drayson PhD FREng, who has built £500m+ technology businesses over the past 20 years.

What We Do

Drayson Technologies’ mission in the smart card space is to enable fraud protection and improved security without any impact on existing infrastructure or user experience.

Our technology (Freevolt) can be miniaturised and allows for advanced features on contactless cards by providing 2-3x more power than stock secure elements or other comparable energy harvesting solutions on the market. We work alongside the secure elements from the major manufacturers, using them as drop-in components to provide the communications.

Freevolt uses existing manufacturing techniques and components, is compliant with size and thickness requirements for existing smart and credit card standards, and is already in use for mass manufacture, having signed its first non-exclusive global licence in 2018.

How We Work

We license our technology to companies within the smart card sector, using Freevolt to enhance their existing product roadmap, and provide a path to mass-scale global commercialisation. By offering drop-in-ready reference designs, we reduce integration effort and time to market.

Additionally, given the COVID-19 crisis, we are working with one of our partners to develop a new kind of access control card, containing a biometric sensor, which allows companies to maintain completely contactless 2-factor authentication for access control. This is a key consideration as the world begins getting people back to work.

Career opportunities

Awards and Recognition

"Freevolt’s true benefit lies in its ability to deliver power when the card is misaligned or operating at distance from the reader. Currently, we have seen no other solution on the market that is able to deliver this consistency in performance when not fully aligned with the reader"

Frank Sandeløv (CEO – CardLab Innovation Aps)