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Siemens Props Up KagoorWeller is to sit on the Vonage board following his firm's investment, and a further director "associated with NEA" is to be appointed to the Vonage board, though Weller could not provide any further details. He also won't reveal how much of Vonage NEA now owns, following its cash injection.

He does admit, though, that the investment in Vonage is a risk, given the extremely competitive nature of the voice services environment and the potential regulatory issues that may emerge (see FCC Sets Date for VOIP Inquiry and FCC Picks VOIP Experts). But Weller says the potential of the Vonage business model makes this a risk worth taking: "The risks are mitigated by the potential upside. We've been looking at Vonage for about nine months, and there's enough evidence, enough business data, to make this attractive. The costs scale as the business grows – there's no chunky upfront investment in traditional voice network infrastructure – so it's a very capital efficient business. And because the service is decoupled from the infrastructure, it means you can be innovative with the service, and do new things with voice service, which is still a killer app," says the NEA partner.

— Ray Le Maistre, International Editor, Boardwatch