Bitfone Announces $6 Million Series A Round Financing Led by Nokia Venture Partners.Business Editors & High-Tech Writers LA JOLLA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 6, 2001 DEMOmobile Conference--Bitfone Corporation, a software infrastructure provider for the mobile Internet, announced today the completion of a $6 million series A round of equity financing led by Nokia Venture Partners. Nexit Ventures and IncubASIA also participated in the round. In addition, Bitfone announced that John Malloy, partner of Nokia Venture Partners, Antti Kokkinen, partner of Nokia Venture Partners, and Michel Wendell, general partner of Nexit Ventures, have joined the company's Board of Directors. Bitfone will use the capital to enhance the capabilities of its iBroker(TM) multimedia access and messaging software infrastructure for wireless carriers, and expand sales and marketing efforts in Europe and Asia Pacific. In a separate press release, Bitfone announced its iBroker software infrastructure that provides global wireless carriers with a new class of media-rich messaging and personal content services. "Bitfone provides wireless carriers with solutions to enhance the mobile Internet infrastructure and provide end user applications that will drive the adoption of next-generation media-rich services and devices," said John Malloy. "With its strategic business model and strong management team, Bitfone is well positioned to be successful in this market-space. We are very pleased to be part of the Bitfone team." "Bitfone focuses on delivering revenue generating multimedia messaging applications that will provide a substantial return on investment for wireless carriers," said Gene Wang, Bitfone's chairman and 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. . "Nokia Venture Partners' participation is a very positive validation of our technology and vision of the mobile Internet." The carrier-grade, Java-based iBroker software infrastructure integrates with any mobile Internet technology to provide the following feature-rich applications: -- iShare(TM) Network enables mobile Internet subscribers to access, store, message and share rich multimedia content from the Web and from personal network storage managed by the service provider. -- iShare(TM) PC enables mobile Internet subscribers to access, store, message and share multimedia content from the Web and from the subscribers' own PC. The content for both applications can originate from any Web site, PC or via mobile email or Multimedia Messaging Service See MMS. (MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) An enhanced transmission service that enables graphics, video clips and sound files to be transmitted via cellphones. Developed as part of the 3GPP project, MMS phones are generally backward compatible with SMS and EMS. ). Bitfone's Executive Management Bitfone has assembled an experienced management team from industry leading wireless and high technology companies including: Openwave Systems, Software.com, Synacom Technology, SCC SCC - strongly connected component , Symantec, PhotoAccess and Computer Motion. Bitfone's Chairman and CEO, Gene Wang, most recently led the successful acquisition of digital camera photography processing company PhotoAccess by Agilent Technologies and led medical robotics company Computer Motion to a successful IPO (Initial Public Offering) The first time a company offers shares of stock to the public. While not a computer term per se, many founders, employees and insiders of computer companies have found this acronym more exciting than any tech term they ever heard. on NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on . Bitfone's Founder and CTO (Chief Technical Officer) The executive responsible for the technical direction of an organization. See CIO and salary survey. , Doug Teeple, has over 25 years of software development experience and was most recently the director of engineering at PhotoAccess and director of Asia Pacific products at Symantec. Dave Paulson, senior vice president of sales and business development, was previously vice president of sales for Software.com and SCC. Randy Snyder, vice president of product marketing, was the past director of emerging technologies and director of wireless product management at Openwave and vice president of systems engineering at Synacom Technology. About Bitfone Corporation Bitfone provides carrier-grade, Java-based software infrastructure to global wireless carriers that enables sharing of media-rich and personal content to enhance the user experience on the wireless network. Bitfone's solutions integrate with any mobile Internet technology to provide wireless carriers with revenue-generating multimedia applications for existing and next-generation mobile services and networks. Bitfone is a global company headquartered in Palo Alto, California “Palo Alto” redirects here. For other uses, see Palo Alto (disambiguation). Palo Alto (IPA: /ˌpæloʊˈʔæltoʊ/, from Spanish: palo: "stick" and alto: "high", i.e. . Additional information is available at www.bitfone.com. About Nokia Venture Partners Nokia Venture Partners is a leading global venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, California Menlo Park is a city in San Mateo County, California in the United States of America. It is located at latitude 37°29' North, longitude 122°9' East. Menlo Park had 30,785 inhabitants as of the 2000 U.S. Census. . Launched in 1998, Nokia Venture Partners has USD USD In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the U.S. Dollar. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. $650 million under management and leads investments in early stage mobile technology companies around the world. The fund is backed by a number of limited partners including BMC Software, CDBWebTech, Goldman Sachs, Nokia (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :NOK NOK In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Norwegian Krone. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. ), and others, and has a strong track record of leveraging its combined resources, experience and contacts to help build successful mobile businesses. The firm also has offices in Washington DC, London and Helsinki. For general information or instructions on how to submit proposals for review, visit www.nokiaventurepartners.com. About IncubASIA Headquartered in Hong Kong, IncubASIA is the only company focused on providing the infrastructure to transform Asian ideas, technology and innovation into global Internet businesses. IncubASIA extends Silicon Valley's entrepreneurial infrastructure into Asia, and by providing this intense support to select businesses at the seed-stage, creates significant value for entrepreneurs. Investors in IncubASIA include Cable & Wireless HKT HKT Phuket, Thailand - Phuket (Airport Code) HKT Home Keygen Token , Sun Hung Kai Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. (新鴻基) (HKSE: 0086 ) is a listed corporation based in Hong Kong. The company is controlled by the 3 Kwok brothers, whose father, Kwok Tak Seng, founded the company. Collectively, they speak for 43. Properties, Horsley Bridge and management. Additional information is available at www.incubasia.com. About Nexit Ventures Nexit Ventures is a venture capital firm that focuses on early stage companies developing the enabling technologies for next-generation applications and services, primarily in the wireless and Infocom industries in the Nordic countries and on the US west coast. The sharp focus allows Nexit to maximize the added value provided to the portfolio companies, and with its two offices in Helsinki, Finland and in Silicon Valley, Nexit can bridge these hot beds in technology and telecommunications. The EUR EUR In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Euro. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. 100 million fund is sourced from a broad pool of prominent investors and leading specialists in the international infocom industry. Additional information is available at www.nexitventures.com. |
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