IQ Capital Invests in the Pioneer of Fixed Mobile Integration

IQ Capital the UK-centric early stage venture fund is pleased to announce that it has lead a Series D funding round in OnRelay. OnRelay is a London-based pioneer in Fixed Mobile Integration with a patented market leading solution for mobilising corporate phone systems. IQ Capital invested alongside OnRelay’s Chairman Richard Cunningham, an experienced telecoms entrepreneur whose previous ventures included Project Telecom acquired by Vodafone for £160m, and a number of existing shareholders.
OnRelay has launched the world’s first private global mobile branch exchange, providing enterprises and operators with the first faultless fixed mobile integration solution (OnRelay’s MBX). This solution integrates employees’ mobile phones with existing corporate voice systems (or PBXs) therefore mobilising or replacing desk phones. The Company’s patented Telephony Internetworking Protocol (TINP) introduces a revolutionary approach to solving complex mobile and fixed telephony integration issues that current standardised voice protocols cannot handle. Current distribution partners include Swisscom (who sells OnRelay’s MBX as One Phone) and IBM.
Commenting on the investment, Max Bautin of IQ Capital who will be joining OnRelay’s board following the investment said: “We are pleased to have led this round of funding for OnRelay. I have known the Company and its founders for a few years and have been struck by the capabilities and disruptive potential of its product, the quality of its management team and their achievements to date. The Company is already generating substantial revenues and has an impressive client and partner list including Tier 1 operators and Fortune 500 businesses. OnRelay is currently at the forefront of the converged next generation Mobile IP PBX market, a market estimated to be worth $15 billion in 2012, with crucially the only known system that allows a mobile to completely replace a deskphone while maintaining full functionality.”
OnRelay President and CFO Marie Wold said: “I am very pleased to have closed this round of financing after a successfulf first half year. The funds will be used to extend our international expansion into North America and further into Europe, whilst also supporting our investment to maintaining our product’s leadership in the market. We are earmarking a significant war-chest for Intellectual Property protection too.
She added: “The Fixed Mobile Convergence market is really heating up, and we make no secret of our view that there is really only one way to implement Mobile PBXs well, and that OnRelay holds the patents on the system architecture and call flow methods to do it.”
OnRelay was founded by Ivar Plahte and Marie Wold in 2000 and is headquarted in the UK. The Company’s global position in the mobile space has been recognised by the World Communication Awards which shortlisted Ivar Plahte (founder and CEO), as the Most Influential Person in Telecoms for 2007.