Released on: 1, March 2006
, Author: visiongain
, Audience: Internet related
Wireless was a significant growth sector for venture capitalinvestment in 2005. During 2005, 152 wireless-related companies received $1.3billion in funding, a 24% increase over 2004's $1.1 billion. Wireless accounted for7% of total VC investment last year, a figure that will rise in 2006 and beyond. Thebulk of telecom investment today - around 60% - is in wireless and relatedtechnology, including networking, infrastructure, semiconductors, mobile computing,content and services.
"Wireless is where the action is and this is a great time to be a wireless start-upin search of venture funding," says visiongain analyst Lynne Gregg. "The focus ofprivate equity investors is squarely on the rapidly growing, global wireless market.Longer term, we expect the movement towards financing wireless start-ups outside theUS to grow, as major companies are earmarking funds for start-ups in Asiancountries, such as China and India."
"As the US public markets remain weak and private equity investing grows outside theUS, we will see many more IPOs of wireless companies taking place in the publicmarkets outside the US, such as the London Stock Exchange's AIM," adds Gregg.
Gregg, who has formerly held Director-level positions at AT&T Wireless and T-Mobileand worked closely advising numerous VC firms, concludes: "Historically, venturecapital investment has shown strong support for technology-oriented businesses,particularly companies and industries that develop and rely upon informationtechnologies. The rationale is simple: these are growth industries. Most venturecapital firms are led by successful high-tech entrepreneurs or individuals who havesuccessfully financed them."
Venture-backed M&As in the telecom/wireless remained strong in 2005 and allindicators point to continued strength in this area in 2006, particularly with IPOsas stock markets rebound. This is particularly relevant because of the dearth ofIPOs in the technology sector over the past five years. The largest deal of 2005 wasthe $4.1 billion acquisition of VoIP company Skype by eBay. Looking forward, oneeagerly anticipated IPO is Vonage, the US-based VoIP service provider, and it islikely that an IPO will take place in 2006.
However, risks still remain, warns visiongain. During 2005, there were only threeventure-backed IPOs in the US telecoms sector. The stock of each of these firms hasdeclined since their IPOs, which does not provide a great deal of confidence toinvestors in telecom IPOs. Only one 2005 telecom IPO did well: the stock of Neustar,a service provider to wireless and wire line operators, gained post-IPO. However,Neustar was not a venture-backed offering.
This visiongain report analyses the VC landscape in the telecoms industry, with aparticular focus on the wireless sector. The report comprehensively detailstechnologies and the companies behind them from a VC standpoint, and profiles the VCfirms most active in the wireless telecoms space.
ENDS
Notes for EditorsIf you are interested in a more detailed overview of this report, including chartsand images, please e-mail sara.peerun@visiongain.com, phone Sara on 020 8767 6711 orsee http://www.visiongainintellige nce.com/reportDetail.aspx?repo rtId
Source: Express-Press-Release.com
Related downloads
Personal Timeclock: Tracks and reports your computer usage by project and category. It can help you with client billing, time management, and can provide the information needed at tax time to justify a deduction for business use of your computer.
Save time! Download the latest software from your internet browser. Searching for software is just one click away. Now you can browse through opendownload's database and find the software you are looking for.
Secure Voice GSM is a full duplex real time call encryption software, which allows you to talk and listen at the same time. The software is compatible with many Nokia handsets. No hardware modifications required!
Venture into the ruins of Gulkur. Reclaim the sacred Stone of Truth and assemble the seven Elvish Archers of pure Greenwood on the Southern Mountain Range. Make your way North through the Dragon Forest where trees are alive and evl.
Simple web reports, simply. With dbQwikReport you can easily design reports that run on your web site. The easy to use wizard will have you making reports in seconds complete with grouping and totals. It generates all your code for you in ASP or PHP
Automate upload on your WebNative Venture servers. Create unlimited pre-configured upload clients for uploading files and folders to an Venture server with simple drag and drop. Capture metadata from user and store it in WebNative Venture database.
Automate upload on your WebNative Venture servers. Create unlimited pre-configured upload clients for uploading files and folders to an Venture server with simple drag and drop. Capture metadata from user and store it in WebNative.
Report Time and Expenses in the Outlook Calendar. No extra app need. Complete Outlook-based time reporting where reports are sent to local MS Access database, created by the application. PDA integration. Powerful statistics tool. Also for Workgroups.
Report time and expenses from inside the Outlook Calendar. Complete time reporting for workgroups. Report to MS Access or SQL database, directly or via ASP. PDA integration. Statistics tool. Subscription $150/month for all kalmstrom.com products.
IntelliVIEW Dashboard Reporter provides user-driven, interactive reporting & embedded analysis capabilities at a cost of traditional reporting! Users can visualize data & effectively monitor business performance without adding to the IT overhead.
