August 24, 2004 - VentureWire.com
By VentureWire Staff Reporters
Saying its key mobile operator market is spending more freely, cellular hardware and services company Spotwave Wireless Inc. announced it has closed C$7 million ($5.4 million) in its Series C round of funding.
In addition, the company, which markets hardware and services for providing cellular coverage to "dead spots" inside buildings, got a C$5 million committed credit facility from Royal Bank of Canada.
That facility is for working capital, Spotwave said.
The equity round was led by Newbury Ventures and VenGrowth Capital Partners. Primaxis Technology Ventures, VentureLink Fund and GrowthWorks WV Funds also invested, as did Venture Coaches, now part of Skypoint Capital Corp. All were existing investors.
A new investor, RBQ Ltd., also participated in the funding, a flat round that closed this month.
President and Chief Executive Shane Young said the new equity was raised "to allow us to move quickly" to nab deployments.
The company's primary customer group is mobile operators who, Young said, are spending more on coverage.
While the market for in-building coverage "was hit by the telecom meltdown," he said, it is "picking up speed."
Spotwave has deployed its hardware for large mobile operators in the U.S. and Canada, including Telus Corp.'s Telus Mobility, Sprint PCS, Cingular Wireless and Verizon Wireless.
Spotwave's hardware, or SpotCell adaptive repeaters, have been deployed in shopping malls, manufacturing plants and hospitals, among other locations. With Sprint PCS, for example, the company has helped with wireless coverage in a Chicago hospital.
The repeaters are designed to improve or enable cellular coverage for cellphones and other wireless devices.
Founded in May 2000, Spotwave now has raised about C$35 million to date, including the Series C round and the credit facility from RBC.
The Series B was closed in January 2002, raising C$23.9 million.
The company hasn't reached breakeven, but will hit that goal "certainly within the next several quarters," said Young.
The Ottawa-based company has 60 employees, with five to 10 hires planned for the next six months. Currently there are 10 employees in the U.S.
While its core market is the U.S., with some Canadian operators in the mix, Spotwave is "laying the foundation for [business operations] outside North America," its CEO said.
That activity is centered on Asia, he said.
