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Our client being an innovative Wi-Fi Location Provider attracts Bain Capital Ventures, Intel Join Innovent, and Nokia as New Investors
January 10, 2006 QArea is proud to announce its client Skyhook Wireless, provider of the industry's first Wi-Fi based metro-area positioning system, declared on December 20, 2005 of it has secured $6.5 million in a first round of venture capital and new corporate financing. Series B participants included new investors Bain Capital Ventures, which led the round, and Intel Capital. Existing investors Innovent, an entrepreneurial innovation unit in Nokia, and CommonAngels also participated in this round which brings total funds raised to $8.3 million. Ajay Agarwal, venture partner with Bain Capital Ventures, will join Skyhook's Board of Directors.
QArea contributes with its software development services for the project which is recognized as having the greatest potential for the Wi-Fi and positioning market (called the Wi-Fi Positioning System (WPS)). The market for reliable and easy-to-deploy location technologies is enormous, ranging from E911 and local search to personal navigation and asset tracking in the USA and all over the world. Close interest paid by Intel, which has played a pivotal role in the explosive growth of Wi-Fi enabling new applications for service providers, enterprises and consumers, promises brilliant future to that project. While the next generation of Wi-Fi enabled mobile devices comes to the market, Skyhook's location technologies will certainly bring on innovative and valuable user experiences.
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The Wi-Fi Positioning System (WPS) from Skyhook Wireless is the first indoor-outdoor positioning system that utilizes Wi-Fi rather than GPS or cell towers to accurately pinpoint location. The Skyhook solution includes a national location network covering the top 70 cities in the United States that can accurately pinpoint location on any Wi-Fi enabled device. Because WPS requires no specialized hardware, works inside or out and acquires a location in less than a second, it solves the problems associated with existing location systems. The Skyhook system also integrates both GPS and IP location technologies on top of its core Wi-Fi positioning in order to provide the optimal location readings at all times.
About QArea: QArea is one of the largest offshore software development companies in Eastern Europe since 2001. Its primary focus is brought upon application development for handheld devices, (j2me development), Symbian, WinCE (Windows Mobile), Palm devices and related. The development expertise also includes wireless connection methods as GPS, WAP, GPRS, Bluetooth, IrDA, Wi-Fi. QArea cultivates strong .NET and Java development teams performing standalone and web-application development services.
About Skyhook Wireless: Founded in 2003, Skyhook Wireless has pioneered the development of the first-ever metro-area positioning system that leverages Wi-Fi rather than satellites or cell towers to deliver precise location data supporting the growing market for location-based services. The Skyhook Wi-Fi Positioning System (WPS) requires no new hardware, works indoors and outdoors, provides an instant location and is more accurate than current technologies in congested downtown areas. Skyhook Wireless is headquartered in Boston, MA and is privately held. For more information on the company and its Wi-Fi positioning system, visit www.skyhookwireless.com, send email to info@skyhookwireless.com or call 781.898.0495.
About Bain Capital Ventures: Bain Capital Ventures, the venture capital arm of Bain Capital, leverages the institutional advantages and consulting-based approach of Bain Capital to build industry-leading businesses. Focusing on sectors such as software, wireless, healthcare, business services, and consumer, Boston-based Bain Capital Ventures benefits from the broader resources of Bain Capital, which includes over 200 investment professionals, a network of over 225 portfolio companies, over $25 billion of assets under management, and the knowledge from 20 years of successful venture investing. For more information, visit www.baincapitalventures.com
About Intel Capital: Intel Capital, Intel's venture investment program, focuses on making minority equity investments to grow the Internet economy in support of Intel's strategic interests. Intel Capital invests in hardware, software and services companies in several market segments, including computing, networking, and wireless communications. Intel Capital has invested more than US$4 billion in approximately 1,000 companies in more than 30 countries since 1991. Since its inception, about 160 portfolio companies have been acquired by other companies and another 150 have gone public on various exchanges around the world. Intel Capital employs investment managers in about 25 countries worldwide. Last year alone, Intel Capital invested more than US$130 million in about 110 deals with approximately 40 percent of its investments made outside the United States. For more information, visit www.intel.com/capital.
About Innovent: Innovent, an entrepreneurial innovation unit in Nokia Ventures Organization, connects to the pulse of emerging markets to explore innovation options for Nokia. Innovent offers a collaborative environment for early-stage entrepreneurs working on concepts that facilitate connections between people, their communities and the things that matter to them. Innovent offers expertise and resources to clarify the opportunity behind their visions and accelerate the process between concept development and commercialization, within a framework of mutual trust. http://www.nokia.com/nokia/0,,54249,00.html
About CommonAngels: Named after the Boston's historic public meeting grounds, CommonAngels is a group of 65 leading private investors and several dozen limited partners in two co-investment funds. Since 1998, CommonAngels has funded 28 companies with over $30 million from CommonAngels and over $100 million from co-investors. www.commonangels.com |
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