Xped was founded in Adelaide and still maintains all R&D there. Earlier this year it made a backdoor listing on the ASX through former geothermal exploration company Raya Group, of whick Lekkas was chairman. Xped has developed technology that can be incorporated into a wide range of equipment that then enables the equipment to be monitored and controlled via the Xped smartphone app.
Lekkas, through his company Dalext Pty Ltd, has been providing consultancy services to Xped and Xped says this arrangement will continue. “[Lekkas] has been instrumental in driving the company forward on its business opportunities … [and] continues to spend the majority of his time in Asia and the USA working on opportunities for the company,” Xped said. He will relocate to the USA.
Xped said Zhang “brings to the board significant experience in capital markets, investment and acquisition experience and will be actively representing the company in the Silicon Valley, San Francisco Bay Area.”
As managing director of Intel Capital she oversaw investments in China and managed a team of investment professionals in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. She was responsible for the $US100m Intel Capital China Smart Device Innovation Fund, the $ US 500m Intel Capital China Technology Fund II and the RMB80m Intel Capital China Angel Fund.
Co-founder & CTO holds key patents
Wood will also relocate to the USA, to San Francisco, to oversee and manage the North American operations of the business. According to his LinkedIn profile he holds a US patent (No 9,136,913) for: “The core ADRC [Xped] technology that allows a controller to discover and control a device without any external knowledge other than information that the device provides to the controller over a local communications link. … [and] renders the need for fixed device profiles obsolete.
Another relevant US patent (No 9,037,708) “discloses a mechanism whereby data and associated triggers are delivered to a device such as a mobile phone over an NFC connection.”
He also developed what was claimed to be “the world’s first device browser for Arduino and Raspberry Pi” with $30,000 funding as a Kickstarter project that “allows users to create amazing smartphone user interfaces … in minutes without having to write an app.”
Xped claims that its Auto Discovery Remote Control (ARDC) technology “allows any consumer, regardless of their technical capability, to connect, monitor and control devices and appliances found in our everyday environment,” via a process that is “as simple as two people shaking hands.”
