Software OTA Firm Increases Funding

Bitfone Corp., a company that is developing software for updating cell phone software remotely, has secured additional funding from Motorola Ventures, the venture capital investment arm of Motorola. This investment will bring Bitfone's total funding to over US$35 million. Previous investors include Nokia Venture Partners, St Paul Venture Capital, 3i, Nexit Ventures, Orange Ventures, KTB Ventures and CIR Ventures.

"The investment from Motorola reinforces our position as trusted experts in over-the-air reflash technology, capable of bringing a fault-tolerant and cost-saving solution into the mainstream," said Gene Wang, chairman and CEO, Bitfone. "With our incredible roster of investors, and the relationships they facilitate with the leading handset manufacturers and carriers, we have the means to foster widespread adoption of OTA firmware updates."

"We look for innovative technologies that are based on sound business fundamentals and satisfy a market need," said Warren Holtsberg, corporate vice president, Motorola Ventures. "We believe that Bitfone's management team and patent-pending technology positions the company to become a leader in providing critical OTA device management solutions to wireless handset manufacturers and carriers worldwide."

This announcement makes Bitfone the first company to receive funding from both Motorola Ventures and Nokia Venture Partners.

Bitfone's mProve is the first commercially available product for updating a wireless phone's entire firmware over the air, in a 100% fault-tolerant manner. mProve offers service providers and mobile phone manufacturers significant cost savings by reducing product recalls, phone replacements and retail center servicing due to software defects. mProve also accelerates time to market for mobile phones, and provides an efficient delivery vehicle for high-margin, value-added services and features.

Hang Xu, CFO, Bitfone, said, "While other companies are struggling to get funded, Bitfone continues to attract top tier investors by demonstrating an exceptional value proposition. With this new funding from Motorola Ventures, along with recent funding from Orange Ventures and KTB Ventures, we are in great shape to execute on our business plan."

Posted to the site on 8th July 2003