Accuris Networks attracted a $15 million equity funding round and hired as its new CEO wireless industry veteran Jeff Brown, who was most recently CEO and president of Kineto Wireless.
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Accuris drew the funding from new investors Investec, which is an international specialist bank, and China cross-border investor Summit Bridge Capital.
In an interview with FierceWirelessTech, Accuris Chairman Larry Quinn said the vendor will use the new funding to further develop its AccuRoam platform and build solutions for carrier-grade Wi-Fi offload and roaming. The AccuRoam platform connects mobile broadband networks such as GSM CDMA, LTE and Wi-Fi. AT&T Mobility (NYSE: T) previously became the first operator to sign on to use Accuris' AccuRoam platform for international Wi-Fi roaming. The vendor's AccuRoam product also enabled authentication and billing management via SIM cards for the Hospot 2.0 network installed at the 2014 Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, Spain, earlier this year.
"We have some ideas under the hood that we're looking at in the roaming environment, and I use roaming to mean more than inter-cellular standards but in the broadest sense of connecting all types of bearers and technologies," Quinn said.
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Accuris also intends to build on its success in North America and expand its business in China, Japan and other Asian markets as well as further develop its reach in other regions, particularly in the Middle East and Western Europe.
Though Accuris is based in Dublin, Ireland, Quinn said he intentionally sought out management expertise in North America. That is where he found Brown, who was at the helm of Kineto prior to its acquisition earlier this month by Taqua, which will use Kineto's technology as part of a scalable, end-to-end Wi-Fi calling solution.
"We recognize that some of the biggest operators and the most key technology partners are all North America-based, so it makes sense to us to build the public face of Accuris more in North America," Quinn explained. Quinn added that he feels Brown is the person who can take Accuris "into the next phase" and "scale it."
Brown will remain based in the United States and Accuris Networks will establish a new Silicon Valley office. "With marquee customers and partners such as AT&T, Bell Mobility, Telus, GoGo, Cisco, HP and Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), Accuris Networks has already established an enviable track record in this market," said Brown. "But we've barely scratched the surface of the opportunities here so far."
Brown previously held leadership positions at RadioFrame Networks and wireless healthcare company Data Critical, which was sold to GE Medical Systems. His experience also includes executive positions at McCaw Cellular, AT&T Wireless and PacTel Cellular.
For more:
- see this Accuris release
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