After Vonage announced last week that its customers were fully 911 compliant, the VoIP provider raised $250 million in convertible debt funding to aid in deploying e911 services for their all of their subscribers. The company said the money will also be used to expand its network across the US. Bain Capital led the deal and was joined by return backers New Enterprise Associates, Meritech Capital Partners and 16 new investors. The new round of fund raising brings the company's total funding to $658 million.
Vonage has been toying with the idea of going public for some time now, but moves like these really make you wonder. As some have noted, this is probably just an opportunity for more investors to cash in on a sure thing. But Vonage just raised about $200 million seven months ago. Do they really need more money to make their service e911 compliant?
For more on Vonage's latest fund-raising:
- take a look at this blog entry