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| Series
B Press Release
ViVOtech
Secures 18.25 Million in Series B Funding from Draper Fisher Jurveston,
Nokia Growth Partners, DFJ Gotham and Alloy Ventures
Josh
Stein Appointed to Board of Directors.
SANTA
CLARA, Calif. September 27, 2005 – ViVOtech, the
leading supplier of Contactless payment solutions, today announced
it has raised $18.25 million in Series B funding. The round is being
led by Draper Fisher Jurveston. Also participating in the round
are Nokia Growth Partners, DFJ Gotham and previous investor Alloy
Ventures.
“The
Contactless payment market has begun to expand rapidly,” said
Josh Stein of Draper Fisher Jurveston, who is joining the ViVOtech
Board coincident with this investment. “Over the next five
years opportunities will be enormous as the payments industry introduces
innovative new payment methods in the quest to replace cash, and
enhance speed, convenience and security at the point of sale. We
see ViVOtech as an innovator with ground-breaking payments solutions,
very well positioned to take advantage of these opportunities.”
“We
believe that widespread adoption of Contactless payment cards by
consumers, banks and retailers will lay the foundation for a large
opportunity to add payment capabilities to mobile phones using Near
Field Communication (NFC) technology,” said Rob Trice, General
Partner at Nokia Growth Partners. “With mobile phone and credit
card users measuring in the billions globally, the market potential
for mobile payments and for enablers of this transition like ViVOtech
are endless.”
“We
welcome Draper Fisher Jurveston, Nokia Growth Partners and DFJ Gotham
to the ViVOtech team, and returning investor Alloy Ventures,”
said Michael Mullagh, CEO of ViVOtech. “The participation
of such prestigious investors is a vote of confidence in the market
and the ViVOtech team. This additional funding will allow ViVOtech
to grow stride for stride with the major participants in the multi-trillion
dollar electronic payment market.”
About
Our Investors
Draper
Fisher Jurvetson has created a global network of affiliated
venture funds with over $3 billion in capital commitments and offices
in the major technology centers around the world. Headquartered
in Silicon Valley, the firm has proven expertise in identifying
and helping extraordinary entrepreneurs who want to change the world.
For more information about Draper Fisher Jurvetson, please visit
www.dfj.com.
Nokia
Growth Partners
is a global fund headquartered in London and Menlo Park, California.
Nokia Growth Partners focuses on investments in information and
communications technologies, with an emphasis on wireless. Target
companies will have a working product, have reached significant
revenues, and are beginning to experience adoption by major industry
participants such as Nokia. For more information about Nokia Growth
Partners, please visit www.nokiagrowthpartners.com.
Draper
Fisher Jurvetson Gotham Ventures (DFJ Gotham), located
in New York, is a Draper Fisher Jurvetson affiliate fund focused
on backing exceptional entrepreneurs in a variety of IT sectors.
DFJ Gotham shares the knowledge, resources and contacts of over
15 DFJ-network funds. For more information about DFJ Gotham, please
visit www.dfjgotham.com.
Alloy
Ventures have been providing venture capital to companies
since 1977. The company's primary areas of investment are in information
technology and life science industries. Alloy Ventures currently
has more than $750 million under management. For more information
about Alloy Ventures, please visit www.alloyventures.com.
About
ViVOtech
ViVOtech provides an end-to-end transaction platform that allows
consumers to make contactless payments with radio frequency-enabled
credit cards, debit cards, key fobs, cell phones, PDAs and identity
cards. The company’s products are backwards compatible with
today’s existing PoS infrastructure, providing seamless upgrades.
With more than 90,000 of its contactless payment readers deployed
around the world, ViVOtech products are found in Fast Food Restaurants
(QSR), Casual Dining Establishments, Corporate Cafeterias, Parking
Garages, and Movie Theaters as well as Convenience, Grocery, and
Drug Stores. ViVOtech is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., with
offices in Europe and Asia. In 2005, ViVOtech received the prestigious
Frost & Sullivan technology award for its role in transforming
the contactless payment industry.
Editorial Contact:
Janice Mackey
Weber Shandwick, for ViVOtech
408-530-8400 ex 2223
jmackey@webershandwick.com
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