Bytemobile Inc. today announced it has closed $29 million in Series B funding and won its first customer – Vodafone of the U.K.
A software provider in the wireless data space, Bytemobile (www.bytemobile.com) offers compression software to help network operators wring better performance out of 2G, 2.5G and 3G networks. The software is entirely IP-based, can be used with any air interface and doesn’t require changes to end user devices. The software runs on Sun Solaris boxes, which service providers can locate where they like in their networks, preferably as close to the gateway as possible.
The company’s Series B funding was led by Ericsson Venture Partners. Trident Capital (www.tridentcapital.com) and Benchmark Capital (www.benchmarkcapital.com), which led Bytemobile’s initial round, also participated as did other organizations, which preferred to remain anonymous. The funding is expected to carry Bytemobile until it reaches cash flow positive by the end of 2003.
As for the Vodafone (www.vodafone.com) deal, the carrier is now using Bytemobile software in its commercial GPRS network in the U.K. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. Bytemobile is working with Vodafone on the next generation of applications 3G can support. That includes support for things like multimedia and secure corporate access to the enterprise.
A large service provider would usually pay on the order of about $1 million for the Bytemobile software license, related professional services and a year’s worth of maintenance to support tens of thousands of subscribers.
