Award of GBP1.1 million Grant

14 Dec 2007 07:01

Trakm8 Holdings PLC14 December 2007 Embargoed until 0700hFriday 14 December 2007 TRAKM8 HOLDINGS PLC ("Trakm8" or "the Group") Trusted Road Usage & Emissions Profiling Project Trakm8, (AIM: TRAK), one of the UK's leading telematics technology and serviceproviders to the global vehicle tracking and security markets, is pleased toannounce that it has been awarded £1.1 million grant funding by the TechnologyStrategy Board (TSB) (formerly part of the Department of Trade & Industry) to bethe Lead Industry Partner in the Trusted Road Usage & Emissions ProfilingProject (TRU-EP). Trakm8 has observed developments in government legislation and other regionalinitiatives over the last few years, with a particular interest in road tolling,congestion charging and vehicle workplace safety. In addition the Group has longheld the view that these initiatives will be the catalyst through which thevehicle telematics market will grow significantly. This project therefore placesTrakm8 in a position to capitalise fully on this anticipated market growththrough the accelerated development of new hardware and services to meet theneeds of these initiatives. In particular Trakm8 believes that there is strongpotential for early exploitation of elements of the project in areas such asdriver behaviour monitoring, duty of care and vehicle emissions monitoring. TRU-EP is a £2.9m three-year project consisting of development resources,hardware and associated costs, with total grant funding of £1.45m cash. Theproject will be undertaken in collaboration with Omitec Limited, the leading UKprovider of automotive diagnostic products and services. TSB grant funding willcontribute 50% of the total whilst Trakm8's contribution to the project willconsist of the majority of the development resources backed by our intellectualproperty knowledge and application experience. The project aims to meet a number of the key "innovation challenges" fortelematics identified by the Department for Transport (DfT). The TRU-EP projectwill develop technology for measuring and monitoring vehicle emissions; provideresearch into the functionality and technical application of the European eCallinitiative & develop techniques and methods of monitoring and measuring driverbehaviour. Cary Knapton, CEO of Trakm8 added: "Trakm8 is delighted to have been selected bythe TSB to lead this project, which will enable us to contribute in thisexciting challenge and participate in market and industry opportunities at afaster pace than originally envisaged. Trakm8 looks forward to working closelywith Omitec and the TSB to help meet the increasing technological andenvironmental challenges facing road users now and in the near future." -ends- For further information please contact: Trakm8 Holdings PLC 0870 380 0531Cary Knapton, Chief Executive OfficerTim Couling, Finance Director Arbuthnot Securities 020 7012 2000Paul Vanstone Tavistock Communications 020 7920 3150Simon HudsonPaul Youens About Trakm8 Trakm8, based in Shaftesbury, Dorset is a leading technology provider, designerand developer of hardware and software to the vehicle tracking and securitymarket. The Company distributes its hardware and software worldwide through anetwork of distributors. In addition, the Company provides ASP vehiclemonitoring and tracking services direct to the B2B market. Trakm8's productsallow vehicles and drivers to be monitored, allowing organisations to managedeliveries and services, or track stolen vehicles down to 5 metres. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange