Qovia, Inc. Announces $10.6 Million Second Round Venture Investment
Canaan Partners Leads Investment in Rapidly-Growing VoIP Software Company;
FREDERICK, Md.-April 19, 2004 - Qovia, Inc., the technology and marketshare leader in enterprise Voice over IP (VoIP) monitoring and management products, today announced that it has closed $10.6 million in second round equity financing. The financing, which follows a $5.5 million round A that was announced in October 2003, allows Qovia to expand its sales and marketing effort, and accelerate development of its award-winning VoIP monitoring and management software products. The financing was led by Canaan Partners with participation from returning investors Nokia Venture Partners, Anthem Capital and the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED) Fund. Qovia, Inc. develops software that monitors and manages voice quality on Voice over IP (VoIP) telephone systems. VoIP phones use Internet technology to carry voice traffic and are regarded as the next generation of phone systems. Monitoring and management are needed to ensure voice network reliability and quality and will help Internet telephony gain further momentum as the communications medium of choice for business and residential users. Qovia’s voice quality monitoring and management products are already running on more than 100 networks. Customers include Fortune 1000 businesses, school districts, government agencies, law enforcement agencies, banking and finance companies, call centers, voice carriers and others. “Qovia’s growth has been nothing short of spectacular,” said Richard Tworek, Qovia’s Founder and CEO. “And the commitment from the investment community is gratifying. Though we weren’t actively seeking a second round of funding, once investment partners looked ‘under the hood’ at our vision, strategy and potential we were able to choose from among several potential lead investment partners and close in less than 90 days. The additional investment gives us the ability to accelerate our sales, marketing, engineering and development efforts even faster and attract the top talent we need to grow. Our goal has been to do for voice networks what IBM’s Tivoli does for data networks. The funding helps Qovia to fulfill that vision.” “We view Qovia as a strategic investment, as voice over IP rapidly supplants legacy phone systems,” said Deepak Kamra, partner at Canaan Partners. “Qovia has identified VoIP reliability and quality as pressing but as yet unmet needs. The company has not only developed superior technology for addressing these requirements, but is also marketing it effectively and intelligently. These qualities, combined with Qovia's experienced management team, make this a very attractive investment for us." "The VoIP market is playing a big role in the information technology recovery,” said Jonathan Ebinger, general partner at Nokia Venture Partners. "With the growth in demand for the core systems comes a demand for products that monitor and manage VoIP. Qovia created a rapidly-growing intellectual property portfolio and now offers the only monitoring and management products ‘designed-from-the-ground-up’ for voice. The company has an ideal position in the VoIP market.” “Since we made our initial investment, Qovia’s progress has been outstanding” said Xander Perry, general partner at Anthem Capital Management. “We recognized that they had a clear vision to bring a robust suite of monitoring and management tools to the converged voice network. In the past few months, Qovia has moved vision to reality with acute execution that has delivered products; ramped sales; established key OEM relationships; and has created a large - and growing - dealer channel. This latest round of funding is testament to Qovia’s ability to execute on their plan and build significant value. We are delighted to be a part of the Qovia team.” “Maryland’s DBED Fund investments are important in several ways,” said Aris Melissaratos, Secretary of the Department of Business and Economic Development. “We are not only looking to help entrepreneurs to get their ideas off the ground, we are looking to create jobs and economic prosperity for the state of Maryland. Qovia excelled on both counts and deserves the maximum investment allowed under our program. With help from DBED and other investors, Qovia has added more than 50 high-tech jobs to the Maryland economy in just 18 months, earned Tech Council of Maryland’s ‘IT Product of the Year’ honors in Frederick County and was recognized as the ‘Best of Show’ company at the Federal Office Systems Exposition (FOSE) - the key show for the federal marketplace. Thanks in part to our investment in Qovia, they have become a poster company for Maryland’s booming technology economy.” About Canaan Partners About Nokia Venture Partners About Anthem Capital Management, LLC About the Maryland DBED Enterprise Investment Fund About Qovia’s products About Qovia, Inc. |
