Financing to Accelerate Company’s Strategic Growth, Cultivate Combined Business
Thursday, June 23, 2005
San Diego, CA – ProfitLine, the premier provider of telecom expense management services, today announced it has completed a $15 million round of Series B financing. The round was led by FTVentures and included participation from current investor, Menlo Ventures.
The latest financing brings the total investment in ProfitLine to $32 million. Proceeds from the Series B financing enabled ProfitLine’s recent acquisition of FedCel, an international mobile outsourcer, and will provide working capital to help grow the combined business. For more information about the acquisition, visit www.profitline.com.
“ProfitLine is raising the bar for client expectations as it transforms the ‘industry standard’ in outsourced telecom expense management to include mobile as well as traditional communications,” said Eric S. Byunn, principal at FTVentures. “The combination of ProfitLine and FedCel takes it up a notch by creating a compelling synergy unlike anything we’ve seen in this industry.”
“Effectively managing the telecom lifecycle is a serious problem facing large enterprises,” said Mark Lotke, partner at FTVentures. “We scoured the industry for the right investment opportunities and determined that ProfitLine leads the market in its ability to offer large enterprises, such as our Limited Partner base of global financial institutions, the most comprehensive services for managing important and costly telecom resources.”
In addition to the FedCel acquisition, the $15 million financing will be used to further accelerate ProfitLine’s growth, including funding the company’s infrastructure, sales and marketing, and targeted acquisitions. ProfitLine offers clients two services, Telecom Lifecycle Management (TLM) and TLM Mobility, which together provide a complete, outsourced solution for managing the entire telecom lifecycle.
“ProfitLine’s momentum in the industry results from our passionate commitment to providing better client value,” said Rick Valencia, chief executive officer of ProfitLine. “We’re excited that FTVentures values our client-centric growth strategy. This prestigious firm is a great fit with ProfitLine because of their focus on delivering technology-enabled services to the financial services industry.”
“Menlo is delighted to extend its support of ProfitLine as the company creates the most advanced, comprehensive solution in the industry, and expands into new vertical markets such as automotive and government,” said Doug Carlisle, managing director of Menlo Ventures. “ProfitLine continues to be one step ahead in anticipating client needs, which has greatly contributed to the company’s growth.”
About FTVentures
FTVentures provides capital to growth companies to finance organic expansion, acquisitions, recapitalizations and buyouts. The firm invests in software and business services companies that derive value from its unmatched Global Partner Network, which includes 37 of the world’s leading financial institutions. FTVentures’ Global Partner Network provides the firm with a unique vantage point into the business driven IT and operating challenges of the global enterprise. Founded in 1998, FTVentures currently has $623 million under management with offices in San Francisco and New York. For more information, please visit www.ftventures.com.
About Menlo Ventures
Menlo Ventures, a Silicon Valley based private venture firm, provides long-term capital and management support to early stage and emerging growth companies. The firm looks for combinations of management, market opportunity, products and services that create the potential for an exceptional rate of return. Since its inception in 1976, Menlo Ventures has organized and managed nine venture funds with a combined capital of $2.7 billion under management. Menlo has invested in over 250 companies in a wide range of industries since its founding.
About ProfitLine
ProfitLine is the premier provider of telecom expense management services for Fortune 1000 companies. The company’s outsourced solution streamlines and manages the entire telecom lifecycle process for both wireline and wireless. Backed by an intelligent platform, ProfitLine’s team of seasoned telecom and wireless experts increases savings and reduces hassles for clients. For more information, visit www.profitline.com.
NOTE: ProfitLine is a registered trademark of ProfitLine, Inc. Telecom Lifecycle Management and Telecom Lifecycle Management Mobility are trademarks of ProfitLine. All other trademarks or registered trademarks belong to their respective owners.
Contacts
Erin Leventhal
PROFITLINE
(858) 202-1229
press@profitline.com
Karen Gilbert
FTVENTURES
415-229-3000
kgilbert@ftventures.com
