Celtic House Venture Partners Leads $15 Million Follow-On Investment in Avvasi | February 1, 2010
TORONTO, Feb. 1 /CNW Telbec/ - Celtic House Venture Partners has led a $15 million Series "B" financing round of Avvasi. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, Avvasi is developing solutions that enable mobile network providers to measure, improve and monetize mobile video. The financing was co-led by Tech Capital Partners (Waterloo). Joining the investment syndicate as a new investor is the Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund (OETF), a $250 million fund established by the Province of Ontario to co-invest alongside qualified investors in innovative, high-growth, private Ontario companies. Celtic House is one of four qualified investors approved to date by the OETF.
"Growth and demand for video in a mobile environment has greatly exceeded our initial forecasts," said Mate Prgin, President and CEO of Avvasi. "In response, this additional funding will allow us to accelerate our product release schedule to meet the demands of our customers. By expanding our investment syndicate, Avvasi will be able to offer a complete systems-level solution to the market sooner."
"A dramatic shift in the mobile handset market towards smartphones and 3G/3G+ connected laptops has resulted in an exponential growth of mobile data traffic," said Celtic House Partner Brian Antonen. "Streaming video is one of the fastest growing categories of mobile data traffic and is becoming an increasingly significant revenue driver for wireless carriers. Avvasi provides cost-effective and highly scalable solutions that enable carriers to capitalize and profit from these trends."
Avvasi's core technology has deep roots in the Waterloo region. The company's founders were well-known to Celtic House, as they were previously part of the engineering team at Waterloo-based PixStream, a Celtic House Fund I portfolio company. PixStream was acquired by Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) in 2000.
"Avvasi's leading position in a rapidly expanding market confirms our long-term investment strategy of capitalizing on the core competencies in our target regions and backing repeat entrepreneurs to develop platform technology companies," said Celtic House Partner Tom Valis. "Celtic House has built a cluster of companies in key areas of the consumer video market, including connectivity, portability, processing, security, and tuning/demodulation. Collaboration among our companies reduces market resistance and improves time-to-revenue, lowering the risk for our investment projects."
About Avvasi
Avvasi is an early stage venture-backed company developing solutions that enable mobile carriers to measure, improve and monetize mobile video. For more information, please visit www.avvasi.com.
About Celtic House Venture Partners
For over 15 years, Celtic House Venture Partners has been Canada's most active investor in private information and communications technology companies. Applying the deep domain expertise of its partners and capitalizing on a unique architectural approach to investing, Celtic House has consistently provided superior financial returns to its investors. With $315 million under management, Celtic House has collaborated with management teams and repeat entrepreneurs to develop platform technology companies from the inception phase through to exit, generating over 20 initial public offerings and successful acquisitions. For more information, please visit www.celtic-house.com.
About the Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund
The Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund (OETF) is a direct investment fund established in 2009 by the Province of Ontario and administered by the Ontario Capital Growth Corporation (OCGC), an agency of the Ministry of Research and Innovation. The OETF is a $250-million, five-year fund that co-invests alongside qualified investors in innovative, high-growth, private Ontario companies. The fund focuses on investments in Ontario companies in three sectors: clean technology, life sciences and advanced health technologies, and digital media and information and communications technology. For more information, visit www.ontario.ca/ocgc.
For further information: Media Contact for Celtic House: Tomas Valis, (416) 924-7000; Media Contact for Avvasi: Mate Prgin, (519) 772-6902 x202
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