Is the venture capital market becoming more hospitable to technology and telecommunications companies? Possibly.
Vonage Holdings Corp., which offers voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) telephone service, announced that it raised $200 million in a late-stage round of venture capital, according to the Associated Press. This is the largest venture-capital investment this year, the wire service added, surpassing the $108 million raised in February by anti-spyware company Webroot Software Inc.
(We noted in the most recent issue of CFO IT that as phone service moves to the Internet, CFOs face a tricky cost/benefit calculation. )
Edison, New Jersey-based Vonage has reportedly raised a total of $400 million. This includes the $105 million it raised nine months ago from a group led by Menlo Park, California-based New Enterprise Associates, according to the AP.
Vonage raised the latest sum from Bain Capital Inc. as well as its earlier investors New Enterprise Associates, 3i Corp., Meritech Capital Partners, and Institutional Venture Partners, said the report.