Webraska Pockets €4.5MWebraska Pockets €4.5M

Webraska Mobile Technologies receives an additional investment of €4.5M from current investors, led by Apax Partners

May 20, 2003

3 Min Read

PARIS -- Webraska Mobile Technologies, the pioneering provider of integrated wireless location based services (LBS), navigation and mobile enterprise solutions is pleased to announce that it has received an additional investment of 4.5 Million Euros from its current investors. This capital will be used to fund growth opportunities in Webraska's core LBS, telematics and automotive markets as well as the rapidly growing mobile enterprise market. Apax Partners, Webraska's largest shareholder, is leading this round, with investments coming from its funds based in France, Germany and the US. Strategic investors Philips Electronics, Infineon and Openwave are also investing, along with management.

"This fund-raising follows the two strongest quarters in the company's history in terms of revenue and bottom line P&L", says Barry Glick, Chief Executive Officer. "In addition we have recently launched major new LBS deployments with Orange in France and in the UK. Our strong track record in European is now being complemented by increased commitment to the North American market, notably the launch of consumer LBS applications with Bell Mobility in Canada. We are encouraged that the early promise of compelling and valuable LBS applications is becoming a reality thanks to the vision of our leading carrier and portal partners, who also include E-Plus and O2 in Germany, TIM in Italy, Vodafone Live! in the UK and Sensis, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Telstra in Australia. Services powered by Webraska are already being used by hundreds of thousands of subscribers in Europe and North America and we continue to see positive signs of growth. We will continue to invest in producing the most compelling and widest range of LBS applications in the industry along with an applications framework that provides for integration of applications, best of breed third party content and unrivalled support for a comprehensive range of devices and user interfaces."

In the fast-growing mobile enterprise and automotive/telematics sectors, Webraska works closely with its strategic partners including IBM, H-P, Siemens, SAIC-Telcordia, Grizzli Mobile Systems, Nexo-Cobra and Telepointer. Working with these and other partners, we have recently launched location-enabled call center, vehicle tracking and navigation offerings based on our SmartZone(TM) Geospatial Platform and our patented Internet-based Distributed Navigation (IbDN(TM)) technologies. We will continue to strengthen our offerings in these markets and to continue to innovate; as demonstrated by our development of hybrid off-board/on-board navigation solutions for the most recent generation of smartphones.

The new funding by our existing investors clearly demonstrates their commitment to, and belief in, the success of Webraska as the company embarks on the next stage of its growth.

"Since our first investment in early 2000, Apax Partners has watched Webraska evolve from an ambitious start-up to a trusted provider of high performance and dependable location-based software, services and support to world-class companies", says Edgard Misrahi of Apax Partners and a Webraska Board Member. "Webraska has progressed into a stronger, leaner and fitter company; we believe that it is now very well positioned to benefit from the expanding operational deployment of location-based services and telematics".

The funds raised will be used to speed Webraska's entry into the rapidly emerging mobile enterprise market, and to solidify the company's balance sheet in the months leading to sustained profitability. In addition, Webraska will be strengthening its North American market presence by adding sales, business development, professional services and support capabilities in the US to address the growing demand for LBS, telematics and mobile enterprise platforms and applications. According to Theodore Schell, Partner at Apax Partners in New York, and a Webraska Board Member: "We are investing in Webraska because we believe in the growth potential of the company and in particular want to support the company's launch of its Mobile Enterprise product line, as well as the strengthening of its North American market presence."

Webraska Mobile Technologies SA

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