Philadelphia, PA, September 8, 2010 – OpenCloud Limited, the supplier of real-time application server software for next-generation convergent telecommunications services, has today announced that it has received an investment of £4 million from Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN), one of the largest telecommunications hardware, software and services companies in the world plus an additional £1m from its existing investors Advent Venture Partners and No 8 Ventures.
In addition to the investment by NSN OpenCloud has secured an OEM agreement that will see OpenCloud’s Rhino Telecom Application Server and Service Interaction Server becoming integrated into NSN’s charge@once unified product suite.
The investment will be used by OpenCloud to further its international expansion. It will also allow OpenCloud to extend its partner and application portfolios, as well as assist in the development of future products. This announcement comes at a time when the market demand for OpenCloud’s Telecoms Application Server and Service Broker products is increasing.
In the last year, OpenCloud’s successful growth has exceeded projections. Revenues have tripled year-on-year and the company has acquired 13 customer wins in the last year alone. OpenCloud’s client roster includes some of the telecom industry’s biggest players, such as BT, Vodafone, and T Mobile amongst its customer base of over 30 mobile and fixed network telecom operators.
“We are continuing with our quest to open up the telecoms service layer, to provide compelling technology to the expanding community of telecoms software developers and deliver better value and increased innovation” says Jeff Gordon, CEO of OpenCloud. “Naturally, we are clearly delighted to be making this announcement – in particular receiving an investment from NSN is a strong endorsement of OpenCloud’s products and strategy, and it will help to support our continuing rapid growth. This move elevates our relationship with NSN to that of a truly strategic partner and will enable us to address the considerable Service Layer and Converged Charging opportunities in the market.”
“This investment will allow NSN to address the considerable Converged Charging and Service Delivery Platform opportunities in the market”, says Rick Centeno, head of Charging, Billing and Care, Nokia Siemens Networks. “We will be able to better provide our customers with an integrated offering to fit their end-to-end needs around service development, delivery, control and charging”.
Fairmount Partners, along with European partner Regent Partners International Limited, acted as the financial advisor to OpenCloud in this transaction. Fairmount Partners is a leading independent investment bank focused on emerging growth and middle-market companies. Fairmount advises companies world-wide that provide advanced technologies and/or related services, specifically including telecommunications technologies, software and services. Fairmount provides a complete range of investment banking and capital advisory services for clients, including merger and acquisition advisory, capital placement and financial and strategic advisory services.
OpenCloud represents an example of a pioneering company related to Fairmount’s focus areas in open telecommunications, wireless internet and cloud computing. For more information on Fairmount’s initiatives in these areas and/or to sign up to receive Fairmount’s quarterly reports in these arenas, please contact: Christina Halliday at Chrissy.Halliday@Fairmountpartners.com.
ABOUT OPENCLOUD
OpenCloud provides the telecommunications industry with Rhino – a real-time application server for agile development, deployment and efficient management of person-to-person communication services. OpenCloud Rhino is a high performance, genuinely carrier-grade service execution environment for traditional and Telco 2.0 services on TDM and IP-based networks It uses commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware and software to deliver service layer agility to networks at a radically lower price-point than traditional solutions from network equipment providers. OpenCloud is headquartered in Cambridge, UK with R&D, Engineering and Support in New Zealand and Spain and branch offices in the Singapore and Jakarta. www.opencloud.com
ABOUT NOKIA SIEMENS NETWORKS
Nokia Siemens Networks is a leading global enabler of telecommunications services. With its focus on innovation and sustainability, the company provides a complete portfolio of mobile, fixed and converged network technology, as well as professional services including consultancy and systems integration, deployment, maintenance and managed services. It is one of the largest telecommunications hardware, software and professional services companies in the world. Operating in 150 countries, its headquarters are in Espoo, Finland.
Principals of Fairmount Partners acted as advisors to the Shareholders and Management of OpenCloud Limited in this transaction.
Fairmount Partners is a registered Broker Dealer, member FINRA (www.finra.org) and SIPC (www.sipc.org).
Contact: Charles M. Robins, Managing Director
Fairmount Partners 