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FHP WIRELESS SECURES $8.3 MILLION IN SERIES C FINANCING |
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Voyager
Capital Leads Round that Includes Investments from Benchmark
Capital, Boston Millennia Partners and Hanna Ventures
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SAN MATEO, Calif., February 3, 2003
FHP Wireless, Inc., announced today that it has closed its Series
C equity financing with a total amount of $8.3 million, bringing
the total amount of financing raised to $13.5 million. The latest
financing was led by Voyager Capital and included investments
from all previous investors including Benchmark Capital, Boston
Millennia Partners and Hanna Ventures. FHP Wireless will use
the new capital to fuel its growth in the metro-scale Wi-Fi
networks market by accelerating engineering, sales and marketing
efforts. |
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"Current Wi-Fi products do not scale
to the metro-area reach required by wireless network operators,
service providers and many government agencies. FHP's cellular
Wi-Fi products enable metro-scale deployment of 802.11 by dramatically
increasing coverage while greatly reducing installation and
backhaul costs," stated David Hanna, chairman and chief
executive officer at FHP. "With the support of our marquee
investors, we expect to leverage valuable industry connections
and strategic advice that will accelerate our growth and establish
us as a dominant player in the market." |
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According to Curtis Feeny, managing director
at Voyager Capital and newest member of FHP's board of directors,
"FHP differentiates itself in the market with technology
that enables metro-scale Wi-Fi deployments previously not possible,
solving key coverage and economic challenges. With its strong
management team and revolutionary technology offering, FHP is
well positioned to become a leader in the emerging metro-scale
Wi-Fi market." |
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"As cellular telephone systems have
led to widespread mobility for voice services, we believe that
cellular Wi-Fi networks are the key to ubiquitous, broadband
mobile data services. We envision a future where a variety of
end-users – from police officers, firemen and first responders
at disaster sites to consumers to business travelers – demand
anytime/anywhere network access. FHP is uniquely poised to enable
high-speed wireless metro-scale communications," stated
Bill Gurley, partner at Benchmark Capital and FHP board member. |
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Next Generation Metro-Scale Wi-Fi
Networks
FHP Wireless's cellular Wi-Fi products enable Wi-Fi deployments
that were difficult or impossible before. Unlike hot spot solutions
that provide limited coverage and require dedicated wired network
connections, FHP products transform Wi-Fi into a scalable, high-performance
infrastructure by layering intelligence on top of Wi-Fi to create
a new class of products, Wi-Fi cells. Wi-Fi cells self-organize
and intelligently forward information from one to another until
the data reaches a device with a wired connection to the Internet.
The intelligent FHP system enables Wi-Fi hot zones that eliminate
the need for each Wi-Fi node within the zone to have a wired
connection. Using FHP Wireless' cellular Wi-Fi approach, Wi-Fi
networks can be scaled to support large, metro-scale networks.
The resulting network continuously monitors network traffic,
interference and wired connection availability to offer users
highly reliable network connectivity. Because FHP's cellular
Wi-Fi solutions provide auto-discovery and automatic network
configuration to self-organize into an optimal operating configuration,
the network can be deployed at a fraction of the time and cost
of alternatives. FHP also offers an advanced network management
system for full network visibility and control. |
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About Benchmark Capital
Benchmark Capital was founded in 1995 with the mission of helping
talented entrepreneurs build major technology enterprises focused
on long-term growth. Benchmark takes a labor-intensive, team-oriented
approach to venture investing in order to deliver a superior
level of service to its portfolio companies. Benchmark's portfolio
includes franchise companies such as Ariba (Nasdaq: ARBA), eBay
(Nasdaq: EBAY), Handspring (Nasdaq: HAND), Juniper Networks
(Nasdaq: JNPR) and Red Hat (Nasdaq: RHAT). Managing more than
$2 billion in committed venture capital, Benchmark focuses on
early-stage investing in markets where the partners have direct,
relevant experience. For more information on Benchmark, visit
its web site at www.benchmark.com.
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About Boston Millennia Partners
Boston Millennia Partners is a private equity investment partnership
managing over $700 million in capital. From its office in Boston,
Millennia invests in high-growth businesses in the healthcare
and life sciences, telecommunications and information technology
industries. Typical investments range from $3 to $15 million.
The managers at Millennia have funded over 120 companies in
the U.S. private equity market since 1980. Portfolio companies
with whom they have invested include Verio (NASDAQ: VRIO), Brooks
Fiber Properties/MCI Worldcom (NASDAQ: WCOM), HotJobs/Yahoo,
Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), NeoWorld Communications, Inc./Nextel Communications,
Inc. (NASDAQ: NXTL), and PAREXEL International (NASDAQ: PRXL),
among others. For more information please contact Boston Millennia
Partners at www.millenniapartners.com
or call 617.428.5150. |
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About Hanna Ventures
Hanna Ventures, led by David W. Hanna, is an exclusive, early-stage
venture capital firm based in Newport Beach, CA. Hanna Ventures
invest primarily in early-stage, new technology and service
companies with exceptional growth potential. |
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About Voyager Capital
Voyager Capital is Seattle's leading information technology
venture capital firm, providing entrepreneurs with the resources,
experience, and connections to build successful companies. Voyager
invests in early stage enterprise software and services, Internet
infrastructure, and wireless companies. Voyager's managing directors
bring experience from a variety of senior management, business
development, and venture capital roles. Voyager's advisory board
members and investors provide important contacts for startups,
and are among the most successful information technology executives
and investors in Seattle and Silicon Valley. With $265M under
management, Voyager's investments include Arkivio, Avenue A,
Inc. (NASDAQ: AVEA), Capital Stream, ClearCommerce, Contivo,
Kadiri, NetPodium (acquired by Akamai Technologies) Qsent, SeeCommerce,
and Tegic Communications (acquired by America Online). Voyager
is headquartered in Seattle with an office in Menlo Park, CA.
For more info, visit Voyager's web site at www.voyagercapital.com or telephone (206) 438-1800. |
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About FHP Wireless
FHP Wireless is a leading supplier of systems used to build
metro-scale Wi-Fi networks. FHP's products enable network operators,
service providers and government departments to provide ubiquitous,
broadband wireless network connections to users in any locale.
FHP's solution creates a truly wireless network, free from the
requirement of per node wired connectivity and the arduous network
planning associated with Wi-Fi hot spot deployments using access
points. The FHP solution enables larger coverage areas, decreased
installation costs and decreased operational costs. FHP was
named to Fortune Magazine's "Cool Companies of 2002"
in June. Headquartered in San Mateo, CA, FHP Wireless can be
reached at 650-286-4250, info@fhpwireless.com
or www.fhpwireless.com.
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