AUSTIN, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–June 17, 2003–
Investment from Partech International and Koch Ventures to Drive
Adoption of Company’s Voice Services Among Mobile Operators Worldwide
SoloMio Corp. (www.solomio.com), a leading provider of value-added voice services for mobile phone operators, has secured an additional $6.5 million in series B venture capital.
Participants in the funding include new investors Partech International and Koch Ventures, LLC, plus additional investments from Austin Ventures and Techxas Ventures. SoloMio’s latest round of investment extends the Series B total investment to $9.5 million and brings the company’s total venture capital raised to $19.5 million.
Enabling mobile phone operators to solve their most pressing challenges, SoloMio provides a common services delivery platform and full suite of network-based services. With SoloMio’s Smart Call Services Platform, mobile operators can increase voice call origination and recapture missed revenue opportunities, while giving mobile phone users new call handling choices that enable them to make, take and return phone calls more easily. SoloMio will use the funds to fuel commercial deployments, and expand sales of its Smart Call Services Platform and suite of value-added services.
With this latest round of funding, SoloMio will add two new seats to the company’s board of directors including Dave Welsh, general partner of Partech International, and Ray Gary, president and principal of Koch Ventures. Partech International is a leading U.S. and European trans-atlantic venture capital firm that manages approximately $850 million with more than 20 years of global investment experience. Koch Ventures is an early stage venture capital firm and a subsidiary of Wichita, Kan.-based Koch Industries, Inc., an operations, trading and investment conglomerate with subsidiaries in 30 countries.
“SoloMio is a superb addition to our portfolio,” said Welsh. “Despite a challenging industry and difficult market conditions, SoloMio has demonstrated early market leadership with a differentiated solution that has won support from both mobile operators and end users. This can be a real winner.”
“Koch Ventures continues to invest in proven entrepreneurs and companies that have solid traction in growing markets,” said Gary. “SoloMio’s focus on delivering the applications carriers need to increase revenue and drive adoption of mobile services is exactly where the telecom market is fixated today.”
SoloMio’s announced customers include Telefonica Moviles (NYSE: TEM), one of the world’s largest global operators, and the leading mobile operator in Spain. Telefonica Moviles selected the SoloMio Smart Call Services Platform for its 18-million-subscriber Spanish market as well as a global framework to extend worldwide.
“We bring a clear value that matches the top priorities for mobile operators focused on capturing revenue from lost network voice traffic, and extending their brand via highly valued network services,” said Richard Schwartz, president and CEO of SoloMio. “The strong support from the investment community and strategic alignment with Partech International and Koch Ventures will further drive our momentum with broad commercial deployments.”
About SoloMio
SoloMio Corporation (www.solomio.com) is a privately held global software company and leading provider of value-added services to the mobile operator market. Founded in 2000 as an independent spin-off of Vignette (NASDAQ: VIGN), SoloMio’s value-added services software delivers more ways to make and take mobile calls. Proven to increase voice and data usage, SoloMio’s Smart Call Services Platform enables mobile operators to deliver a range of highly compelling, configurable, mobile operator-branded services that grow their most valuable consumer and business user segments. With a veteran team that has repeatedly delivered high-impact products and grown new companies, SoloMio corporate headquarters are in Austin, Texas, with offices in London and Hamburg. For more information, please visit www.solomio.com.
About Partech International
Founded in 1982, Partech International is based in San Francisco and Paris, and manages approximately $850 million. Partech’s world-class investors include: AT&T, JP Morgan, IBM, Bell Atlantic, Credit Agricole Indosuez, GTE, Merrill Lynch, Swiss Life, and AXA. Partech International’s differentiators are its:
— International Focus: 20+ years of global investing, and
assisting portfolio companies with cross-border expansion.
— Industry Focus: on enterprise software and communications
solutions.
— Lifecycle Financing: early stage, late stage and public equity
investments.
Selected investments include: Ascend, Breezecom, Business Objects, Cadence, Digital Island, Informatica and Vignette.
About Koch Ventures
Koch Ventures, LLC invests in proven entrepreneurs with the integrity, vision, passion and expertise to build sustainable businesses in growing markets. Koch Ventures provides seed and early-stage capital, as well as business expertise, to companies in enterprise software, IT services, life sciences and communications technology, primarily in Texas and the Southwest. Koch Ventures is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and is a subsidiary of Wichita, Kan.-based Koch Industries, Inc. For more information, please visit www.kochventures.com
