Ares, Global Crossing, Intel Communications Fund and QuestMark Partners Participate in $28 Million Investment in Tornado Development.Business/Hi-Tech Editors EL SEGUNDO El Segundo (ĕl sēgŭn`dō), industrial city (1990 pop. 15,223), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1917. Its products include navigation and computer systems, aircraft parts, office machines, telephone apparatus, and , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 12, 2000 Venture Capital and Technology Companies Help Fund Tornado Development's Unified Messaging Having access to e-mail, voice mail and faxes via a common computer application or by telephone. For example, unified messaging may send faxes and digitized voice mail to a mail server that turns them into e-mail attachments. Strategies Tornado Development today announced it has closed $28 million in funding from investors led by venture capital firm QuestMark Partners. The funding includes capital from Ares Management LP, an affiliate of Apollo Management Apollo Management L.P. is a private equity L.P. firm, founded in 1990 by Leon Black (Apollo Advisors). Based in New York, it also has offices in Los Angeles and London. It has invested over $16 billion in companies inside and outside the of the United States. LP, the development arm of Global Crossing Ltd. (Nasdaq:GBLX GBLX Global Crossing Ltd. (stock symbol) ), and the Intel Communications Fund. The funding was facilitated by the Hunter Capital Group. Tornado Development plans to use the new investment to help increase operational efficiency through new worldwide facilities, add sales, marketing and engineering staff and expand development of its unified messaging (UM) platform. John Hull For the American politician, see John A. T. Hull. For the United States Army general, see John E. Hull. John C. Hull is a Professor of Derivatives and Risk Management at the University of Toronto. , director of the Intel Communications Fund, said, "The Intel Communications Fund invested in Tornado to help accelerate the market for unified messaging applications that are compatible with hardware and software products from our Dialogic subsidiary." Tornado Development's UM system enables worldwide access to voicemail, email, fax and pager messages through one phone or Web inbox. By offering a highly scalable UM platform with customizable services and licensing agreements, Tornado Development helps enable Internet service providers Internet service provider (ISP) Company that provides Internet connections and services to individuals and organizations. For a monthly fee, ISPs provide computer users with a connection to their site (see data transmission), as well as a log-in name and password. , application service providers, Internet portals, Telcos and wireless providers to deliver unified messaging services to millions of subscribers. With Tornado Development, service providers are able to leverage the impending im·pend intr.v. im·pend·ed, im·pend·ing, im·pends 1. To be about to occur: Her retirement is impending. 2. growth in the unified messaging market. Research firm Ovum Ltd. predicts this market will expand to 25 million mailboxes by year 2003. In addition to participating in this round of funding, Global Crossing Ltd., one of the world's most extensive, advanced network services providers, recently selected Tornado Messenger (TM) as the UM platform for its entire fiber optic network. Tornado Messenger enables Global Crossing to offer network-based unified messaging to its worldwide customer base, which includes primary ISPs, Telcos and wireless providers. "Tornado Development brings unified messaging to the forefront of value-added network A communications network that provides services beyond normal transmission, such as automatic error detection and correction, protocol conversion and message storing and forwarding. Telenet and Tymnet are examples of value-added networks. services," says Leo Leo, in astronomy Leo [Lat.,=the lion], northern constellation lying S of Ursa Major and on the ecliptic (apparent path of the sun through the heavens) between Cancer and Virgo; it is one of the constellations of the zodiac. J. Hindery, Jr., chief executive officer of Global Crossing Ltd. "Tornado uniquely recognizes that the way to unlock unified messaging's tremendous market potential is to enable network providers to easily implement the technology and provide the services." Jeff Scheinrock, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Tornado Development, says, "These capital investments, coupled with our recent agreement to provide UM to Global Crossing, helps reinforce the value of unified messaging. The funding will help augment our ability to expand Tornado Development's technology components and accelerate the international growth of our organization." About Tornado Development Founded in 1995, Tornado Development is the developer and marketer of Tornado Messenger, the only carrier-grade Unified Messaging engine that offers a single, flexible system for ISPs, portals, ASPs, telcos, and wireless providers. The company specializes in flexible business models including (1) Tornado-based hosting agreements, (2) partial licensing agreements, and (3) full UM licensing agreements. Tornado allows service providers easy entry into the UM market and efficient migration from a hosting environment to complete ownership of an UM system. Tornado Powered Unified Messaging answers all software, hardware, customization and installation needs, with emphasis on reliability, cost-effectiveness and customer servicing. For more information about Tornado Messenger, visit www.TornadoDevelopment.com. To experience Tornado Powered unified messaging free of charge, visit www.tems.com. Third party marks and brands are property of their respective holders. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion