Interactive Enterprise, a two-year-old Irish company, is close to finalising a $10 million (€10.5 million)second round of funding. The company, founded by former Cablelink employee, Mr Tom Higgins, provides specialist products for next generation broadband operators. Its Conexon product was recently named best new product in the Communications Technology's Readers Choice Awards in the US.
Though details of the funding are not available, it is understood multiple investors are involved, with the bulk coming from two big-name investors operating in the broadband market.
Mr Higgins currently retains just over 40 per cent of the company's equity, while 20 per cent of the stock is set aside in an employee share option plan. Cross Atlantic Technology Fund (XATF), through Irish venture capital company, Crucible, also took an early stake in the company.
Interactive Enterprise has made rapid progress in the US where its product, which provides the software interconnection between communications devices and operators' billing systems, is widely known among broadband operators. This week the company announced a significant contract with Telint Global - a next generation data and voice service provider - which is estimated to be worth more than $2 million to Interactive Enterprise over the next 18 months.
The company says it expects to hit revenues of around $7 million this year. So far, its only other partners are Cisco Systems, IBM, and Deutsche Telekom.
Telint Global will now use Interactive Enterprise's Conexon as its mediation and provisioning platform to support its rollout of Internet-based broadband services and products for data, voice and video communications in the German and European markets.
The two companies have also announced a strategic partnership to develop a range of customer-related products for Telint Global in the European market, where it plans to roll out its services to a million subscribers over three years.
"Telint Global's services allow small- and medium-sized enterprises and individuals, who use their home connections for professional use, to attain high-speed data connections, packaged business-to-business products and highly flexible communications models at attractive and competitive rates," said Mr Higgins, chief executive officer of Interactive Enterprise.
