Leading European SIP-venture secures 10.5 million Euro in financing

Leading European SIP-venture secures 10.5 million Euro in financing - 3i, Argnor Wireless Ventures and GO Capital invest in Hotsip Swedish technology company Hotsip has closed its second round of financing, securing 10.5 million Euro from strategic investors in a new share issue. The company develops applications and products for fixed and mobile Internet based on the emerging SIP standard (Session Initiation Protocol). SIP is fundamentally important for the shift from the old telecom infrastructure to new modern IP based networks and e.g. IP-voice. The new investors, 3i, Argnor (formed by Northstream and Argo Global Capital) and GO Capital will be strategic partners in the commercialisation and further development of Hotsip's products within mobile Internet and broadband. Swedish venture capitalist Speed Ventures provided Hotsip with it's original seed funding. The new share issue brings in three further external investors. 3i, as Europe's leading venture capital company, has extensive experience of helping ventures growing internationally. 3i has invested in many other fixed and mobile Internet ventures including, synchronisation software specialist Paragon Software and Internet hosting and services company TeleCity. Argnor Wireless Ventures focuses on wireless communication and 3G. With this focus, the company brings invaluable competence within mobile Internet to Hotsip, which is the first external venture Argnor invests in. Dutch-based GO Capital also have experience with technology investments, concentrating mainly on software companies in Europe. - SIP is a technology that will change the way people communicate in the future. Hotsip's applications enable people to communicate across different network infrastructures and terminals, such as fixed and mobile telephones, computers and PDAs. Using the application level, rather than the infrastructure layer. The focus on SIP and end-user applications makes Hotsip a very exciting investment, says Hendrik Frenzel, Investment Director 3i UK. - SIP will be a key element in 3G systems enabling new exciting multimedia services. We are looking forward to working closely together with Hotsip to help them becoming a leading SIP vendor, particularly for the wireless industry, says Anders Björkman, CEO Argnor. - Capitalising on the opportunities SIP presents takes more than funds. We choose 3i, Argnor and GO Capital to gain access to industry and market experience and expertise that will be invaluable in commercialising Hotsip's products on the global market. It is our ambition to help make SIP accessible to all users of Internet, says Jens Lundström, CEO Hotsip. SIP developed by the organisation behind the web SIP stands for Session Initiation Protocol and is a standard used to initiate sessions between Internet users. A session can be a voice, a video, instant messaging (SMS), a game or a combination of these together with other real time communication. The SIP-address makes it possible to communicate over various terminals mobile phones, PC or PDAs. SIP is an open standard developed by IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force), who are also responsible for developing the http protocol for the web. Large players such as Ericsson, Telia, Cisco, 3Com, AT&T, WorldCom among others are now working actively to promote and develop SIP. In June 2000, SIP was chosen as the standard for the 3G networks of the organisation 3GPP. For further information: Jens Lundström, CEO Hotsip: +46-8-454 05 39, mobile: +46-706-67 84 98, jens@hotsip.com www.hotsip.com Jan Gapinski, Director Investments, Speed Ventures: +46-8-555 436 60, jan.gapinski@speedventures.com Hendrik Frenzel, Investment Director, 3i plc: +44-20-79753100, mobile: +44-797-1683322, hendrik_frenzel@3i.com Hotsip is a Swedish company providing communication products for fixed and mobile Internet. Hotsip develops products based on SIP, Session Initiation Protocol, that let Internet service providers and operators offer users new advanced services. Hotsip was founded by Jens Lundström and Johan Liseborn in 1999. Key personnel, including the founders, previously worked with research and development of SIP and services for Internet and mobile Internet at development company owned jointly by Ericsson and Telia. The company today employs 55 people based in Stockholm, Sweden and Helsinki Finland. 3i Group plc is Europe's leading venture capital company. The Group invests in ambitious, growing businesses in all sectors. It provides funding for early stage, growth, management buy-outs and management buy- ins. 3i operates in nine European countries and has two offices in Asia and two in the USA. Overall, 3i has invested almost £12 billion in more than 13,200 businesses and currently has a portfolio of investments in around 3,000 companies. 3i's portfolio was valued at 30 September 2000 at over £6 billion. www.3i.com Argnor Wireless Ventures supports Nordic entrepreneurs who have innovative services and products in the field of wireless communication and 3G. To help these entrepreneurs build world-class companies, Argnor provides development capital and strategic support in the enterprises' early phases. Argnor was founded by Argo Global Capital Inc., a leading international venture capital firm dedicated to the wireless industry, and Northstream AB, the world leading competence centre specialising in wireless data communication. www.argnor.com. GO Capital is an independent fund management company based in the Netherlands. GO Capital management has many years of experience in the investment industry, in particular in the field of technology. GO is presently investing for GO Capital Ventures, its latest venture capital technology fund. The fund's focus is on European early stage software companies. www.go-capital.nl Speed Ventures is an International "Venture Management Company" founded in 1998, whose business idea is to invest equity, expertise and hard work in newly started companies, primarily in the field of Internet and Wireless. Speed Ventures assists the Ventures in developing businesses and enabling them to grow in a favorable environment, supported by Speed Ventures combined skills and networks. At present Speed Ventures has 27 portfolio companies and employs a total of 45 people in Amsterdam, Helsinki, Hong Kong, London, Madrid, Milan, Munich, New York, Paris Singapore and Stockholm. The head office is situated in Amsterdam. www.speedventures.com ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/01/31/20010131BIT00070/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/01/31/20010131BIT00070/bit0002.pdf