BlueKite.com Closes $36M Series C Financing Led by Texas Pacific Group; Premier Investors Back Rapidly Growing Wireless Internet Software Provider.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 1, 2000 BlueKite.com, a leading enabler of the Wireless Web, today announced it has closed US$36 million in its latest round of equity financing Equity Financing The act of raising money for company activities by selling common or preferred stock to individual or institutional investors. In return for the money paid, shareholders receive ownership interests in the corporation. . The investment round was led by Texas Pacific Group (TPG TPG Texas Pacific Group TPG Tapping TPG Transports Publics Genevois (Geneva, Switzerland public transportation) TPG Test Pattern Generator TPG TNT Post Group TPG Trésorier Payeur Général ), with additional funding coming from Credit Suisse First Boston Credit Suisse First Boston was originally the trading name of the Financière Crédit Suisse-First Boston, a London-based 50-50 investment banking joint venture formed in 1978 between the First Boston Corporation and Credit Suisse. , Robertson Stephens' Bayview 2000 Fund, and a group of previous investors. Wireless Web services (1) Loosely, any online service delivered over the Web. Such usage appears in articles from non-technical sources, but not in IT-oriented publications, because definition #2 below describes the correct use of the term. that utilize BlueKite's technology provide end users with a rich web browsing experience with performance at least five times faster than existing services -- equivalent to or better than 56K dial-up modem connections. BlueKite's technology also optimises the use of wireless network bandwidth by a factor of eight or more, yielding an enhanced return on investment for owners of wireless spectrum and infrastructure. BlueKite's solution supports all major wireless standards including GSM, GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) The first high-speed digital data service provided by cellular carriers that used the GSM technology. GPRS added a packet-switched channel to GSM, which uses dedicated, circuit-switched channels for voice conversations. , CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) A method for transmitting simultaneous signals over a shared portion of the spectrum. The foremost application of CDMA is the digital cellular phone technology from QUALCOMM that operates in the 800 MHz band and 1.9 GHz PCS band. , CDPD (Cellular Digital Packet Data) A low-speed, digital, wireless data network that is an enhancement to an existing analog cellular network. Based on IBM's CelluPlan II, CDPD provides a packet overlay onto the AMPS network and moves data at 19. , and next-generation UMTS networks -- bringing the Wireless Web to handheld PCs, laptop computers, and other mobile devices equipped with standard Web browsers. The Yankee Group forecasts over one billion mobile Internet access devices to be in use by 2003, outstripping the growth rate experienced by the personal computer market over the last decade. "Texas Pacific Group invests in companies that exhibit a combination of strong management, cutting edge products, rapidly expanding markets, and sound plans for growth," said Craig Jorgens of TPG. "BlueKite's ability to enhance wireless data access to the Internet should make it more attractive to a broad business and consumer population." "We are extremely pleased with the quality of the investors that BlueKite has been able to attract," said David R. Cox, president 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. of BlueKite. "The market for Wireless Web services is expanding at a rapid rate, and we are encouraged that leading financial institutions like TPG have put their confidence and financial backing behind BlueKite. In this our third round of venture funding, the importance of wireless Internet infrastructure software, and BlueKite's leadership role in that market segment, has been acknowledged by some of the leading firms in the global technology investing community." BlueKite's market penetration has expanded rapidly in Europe, a strategically vital market for both wireless technologies and investment in advanced telecommunications. This fact is reflected in a substantial European presence in BlueKite's previous funding rounds that included 2M Invest A/S of Denmark and Teknoinvest of Norway, in addition to U.S.-based venture capital firms Name Location Founding date Managing Partners/Directors Specialty Capital managed 5AM Ventures Menlo Park, CA; Waltham, MA 2002 John Diekman, PhD (managing partner), Scott Rocklage, PhD (managing partner), Andrew Schwab (managing partner) life sciences $200M [1] including JF Shea, Axiom Venture Partners, and Viridian vi·rid·i·an n. A durable bluish-green pigment. [From Latin viridis, green; see virid.] Capital. About BlueKite.com BlueKite.com is the established leader in providing software solutions that enable full Wireless Web access on mobile computing devices. Founded in January 1998, BlueKite has worked closely with network operators, system administrators, and mobile professionals in developing its Wireless Web solution. The Company is a California-based corporation with its headquarters in San Francisco and its engineering and design center in Orange County. Furthermore, BlueKite has a European presence that currently includes formally established operations in the UK, France, and Denmark with staff members in London, Paris, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam. Leading mobile Internet service providers across Europe that previously have announced their adoption of BlueKite's solution include BT Cellnet, Connect Austria, Telecel (owned by Vodafone Airtouch), and Swisscom Mobile. For more information, please visit http://www.bluekite.com. About Texas Pacific Group Texas Pacific Group, founded in 1993, is a private investment partnership with capital in excess of $7 billion, and with offices in Fort Worth, TX, San Francisco, CA, Washington, D.C., and London. An early private equity investor in technology, Texas Pacific Group recently completed one of the largest private equity investments in technology with its $500 million commitment to France's Gemplus S.A., the world's leading provider of smart-card based solutions. TPG`s other technology and telecommunications investments include: Yazam.com, Convergent Communications, Inc., Interlink INTERLINK - A commercial product comprising hardware and software for file transfer between IBM and VAX computers. Group, Inc., DoveBid, Inc., FirstWorld Communications, Inc., Star One and Advanced TelCom Group. Texas Pacific Group also led the buyouts of ON Semiconductor, Paradyne Networks, GlobeSpan Inc., Zhone Technologies, Zilog, Inc., Landis & Gyr Communications and GT Com. The partnership has made significant investments in a broad range of other industries, including consumer products, healthcare, airlines, food and beverage F&B is a common abbreviation in the United States and Commonwealth countries, including Hong Kong. F&B is typically the widely accepted abbreviation for "Food and Beverage," which is the sector/industry that specializes in the conceptualization, the making of, and delivery of foods. , and oil and gas. |
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