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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
telcobuy.com Secures $25 Million to Expand Internet Business-to Business (B2B) Services for the Telecommunications Industry
Summit Partners and Highland Capital Partners Lead Investment
St. Louis, MO - January 31, 2000 - telcobuy.com, LLC, the leading aggregator of products and services facilitating rapid network deployment in the telecommunications carrier market, today announced it has received $25 million in financing from Highland Capital Partners and Summit Partners. The funding will be used to expand the company's sales and marketing efforts and to further expand its next generation B2B e-commerce portal. telcobuy.com will also continue to implement eXtensible Markup Language (XML), Internet connectivity and enterprise resource planning (ERP) integration with each of its major customers and suppliers.
telcobuy.com is the first Internet B2B company to provide telecommunications’ service providers with the end-to-end capability to bid, order, procure, and manage the deployment of customized network product solutions and meet increased time-to-market demands. Building upon its rapid growth to date and base of over 500,000 products from over 1000 suppliers, telcobuy.com will seek to expand its current buyer and seller community to include all major communication equipment OEMs, distributors, incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs), competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs), long distance interexchange carriers, wireless carriers and telecommunications contractors during the first half of 2000.
"telcobuy.com simplifies the complex process of sourcing the right products, on a just-in-time basis, from the myriad of industry-leading, telecom manufacturers and distributors," said Jim Kavanaugh, CEO and co-founder of telcobuy.com.
"This round of financing will allow us to create brand awareness as well as accelerate our integration strategy, which will revolutionize the way products get deployed into this vertical market."
According to Dataquest, the market for telecommunications equipment exceeded $180 billion in 1999, and is projected to reach $220 billion in 2002. Drivers for this high growth include the Internet, bandwidth demands, convergence of voice and data, and e-commerce.
"As the first mover delivering an outsourced service for the telco market, telcobuy.com provides nearly all organizations along the communications food-chain with an attractive solution for simplifying procurement and collaborating all the ‘touch points’ to their frenzied network buildout process," commented Sean Dalton, General Partner of Highland Capital Partners and telcobuy.com board member. "This frictionless model should encourage maximum supplier endorsement and participation, as it is a complete and expedient solution that solves the time to market issues relevant to all participants in the telco market."
"As one of the world’s largest Internet B2B companies in terms of revenue and growth, telcobuy.com offers the telecommunications market a virtual one-stop shop for products and services," said Scott Collins, Partner at Summit Partners and a telcobuy.com board member. "telcobuy.com facilitates supply chain management from customers to suppliers and augments the already strained human resources in the sector, with an infrastructure, transaction platform and business model that is proven and scalable."
About Summit Partners
Founded in 1984, Summit Partners is one of the largest venture capital and private equity partnerships in the United States with over $3.3 billion under management. Summit invests primarily in privately held technology and communications companies with significant growth potential. Notable companies financed by Summit include CMGi, Digital Link, Ditech Communications, DSET, E-Commerce Exchange, E-Tek Dynamics, Finisar, Fry Multimedia, Martin & Associates, McAfee Associates/Network Associates, MCK Communications, Right Now Technologies, Somera Communications, Staples.com, Unica Technologies, WebEx, and Xylan. For additional information, visit the company’s web site at www.summitpartners.com , or call 1-617-824-1000.
About Highland Capital Partners
Founded in 1988, Highland Capital Partners is a leading venture capital firm focused on building companies in the Internet/E-commerce, communications and medical markets. With over $1 billion under management, Highland has worked with such firms as AccessLan, Altiga Networks, ANDA Networks, Ask Jeeves, COLO.com, Be Free, Bolt Media, CheckFree, eToys, fatbrain.com, Gamesville.com, LivePerson, Lycos, Mainspring, MapQuest, Medscape, Mercata, NextCard, RoweCom, Send.com, Staples.com, WebLine Communications and Wit Capital. For additional information, visit the company's web site at www.hcp.com or call 1-617-531-1500.
About telcobuy.com
telcobuy.com, based in St. Louis, Missouri (www.telcobuy.com) e.business enables the buying and selling of products and services in the telecommunications industry. By electronically aggregating the broad range of manufacturer and distributor products and customizing solutions to meet the rapid buildout demands of the carrier market, telcobuy.com has coined a "Point and Click" network deployment strategy that sets new standards in efficient supply chain management.