Louisville can add a new public company to its roster as a tech firm has opted to relocate its headquarters to the region.
NXT-ID Inc. is not new to the area. In fact, the parent company of LogicMark LLC has had an office here since 2013. But with the relatively recent appointment of a new CEO, NXT-ID has decided to close its current headquarters in Oxford, Connecticut, and its other office in Florida, making Louisville its headquarters and main office in the process.
In an interview Monday, CEO Chia-Lin Simmons told me the decision to base NXT-ID's operations in Louisville was equal parts talent and opportunity.
Simmons, who is based in California, joined NXT-ID as its top executive in June with more than 26 years of experience as an executive for technology companies, with a background in mobility, digital, marketing and investments, corporate finance, law and strategic planning. Most recently, she served as CEO and co-founder of LookyLoo Inc., an AI social commerce company, and prior to co-founding that startup, Simmons was head of global partner marketing at Google Play.
And in spite of its Nasdaq listing (under the ticker symbol: NXTD) and established business, Simmons sees NXT-ID as a startup, too.
"We're a startup with a ticker symbol," she said. "The idea of having three offices just seemed crazy to me. We have been, pre-Covid, and continue to be a dispersed company."
NXT-ID, which has seven of its 20 staffers in Louisville, provides internet-of-things (IoT) technology products and services for health care applications, including non-monitored and monitored personal emergency response systems (PERS), such as FreedomAlert and Guardian 911, through its wholly-owned subsidiary LogicMark. The two-way voice communication systems offer safety and security for aging populations living independently, which fits in well with Louisville's focus on establishing itself as the center of aging care innovation.
"We found Louisville to be an ideal solution, given the center of innovation around elder care and aging tech," Simmons said. "We also find that we can reach 80% of America from Kentucky, so it's a perfect position for us to be in. The talent there has been tremendous for us as well."
Simmons said she expects to make additional hires at its local headquarters at 2801 Diode Lane in Jeffersontown, working specifically under Ken Hoskins, vice president of operations at NXT-ID, in addition to remote hires as the company gears up to innovate in an industry that's been largely stagnant.
Given her background with tech giants like Google and Amazon, Simmons said she often gets asked why she joined NXT-ID. Health care communication tech for seniors isn't sexy like non-fungible tokens and the metaverse, she said, but it's a continuously growing population segment that still needs access to products and services that can better their lives.
"There's 10,000 people turning 65 and over every day, and by 2050, more than 23% of the American population will be over 65," she said. "But yet, somehow when we're talking about chasing some sort of innovative new technology, we're not thinking about serving such a huge demographic of our population. It's not like the population is going to go away, so the question becomes, what are we doing? What are we doing and how are we making things better?"
NXT-ID has had its financial challenges leading up to Simmons' appointment as CEO, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
The company hasn't released third quarter results yet, but posted revenue of $2.8 million for the second quarter ending June 30, up 14% from the prior quarter and up 12% from the same quarter last year. Its net loss for the second quarter was $1.2 million or $0.02 per share, compared to a net loss of approximately $5.8 million or $0.12 per share in the prior quarter and a net loss of approximately $668,000 or $0.02 per share in the same quarter last year.
NXT-ID's board of directors recently approved reverse stock split proposals, ensuring the company could stay listed on Nasdaq. It's currently trading around $4.25 per share, according to Yahoo Finance.
Recently, NXT-ID won a U.S. General Services Contract, a 5-year contract that provides federal, state, and local government buyers access to its entire product line. This includes the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the largest integrated health care system in the United States, which provides care at 1,293 health care facilities, including 171 VA Medical Centers and 1,112 outpatient sites.
Distributing NXT-ID’s products through this channel will help bring life-saving products to more people who need them at a discounted price. Additionally, eligible veterans can get a free LogicMark device from the VA.
Louisville doesn't have a lot of public companies traded on the major exchanges (see the list below) but there has been a few public securities filings this year.
As we reported last month, BrightSpring Health Services has filed for an initial public offering. Talaris Therapeutics went public in May and is now traded on Nasdaq. Earlier in the year, Morehead, Kentucky-based AppHarvest went public and raised $475 million in net proceeds. Creative Realities Inc. raised about $10 million in a 2018 IPO. More recently, it was announced Louisville-based EdjSports has been acquired by a Canadian company that's going public.
