Vancouver, BC, February 21, 2005--Discovery Capital Management Corp., manager of British Columbia Discovery Fund (VCC) Inc., announced that the Fund has made an investment commitment of up to $2,000,000 to Mobidia Technology Inc., a wireless technology company located in Richmond, B.C. As part of its commitment, BCDF has fully funded the initial seed round investment of $500,000.
Mobidia is immediately embarking on a second round financing to raise up to $2,500,000, with closing anticipated for April 30, 2005. BCDF has committed to fund up to $1,500,000 of this round of investment, with a $1,000,000 minimum. Discovery Capital is actively working with Mobidia to complete the syndication of this second round of financing and discussions are underway with several potential investors. In connection with the Fund's commitment, Charles Cook, CFO of the Fund, has been appointed to Mobidia's board of directors.
Upon closing of a fully subscribed second round financing, Mobidia will have raised $3,000,000 in aggregate, with the funds earmarked for completing product development, enhancing intellectual property protection and expanding marketing and business development. Mobidia has initiated discussions with its potential customers, which are principally wireless telephone carriers, to commence trials of its .wave technology.
"With the growing proliferation of smartphones and other wireless enabled mobile devices, the demand for wireless data services is expanding rapidly and wireless carriers are keenly interested in increasing their ARPU (average revenue per unit) by providing the best wireless data services experience possible over their networks," commented Charles Cook. "We believe that Mobidia is developing a unique technology solution that will allow carriers to provide high quality of service, manage their bandwidth and enable seamless network switching, all of which will drive demand for wireless data services."
"Although Mobidia was launched in 2004, extensive research and testing have gone into Mobidia's product by its founders, Chief Scientist, Dr. Sharif and CTO, Fay Arjomandi" commented Allan Larmour, CEO of Mobidia. "The Fund's investment has been made at a critical point in Mobidia's development. The market for Mobidia's products is developing rapidly, and the Fund's investment will allow us to accelerate towards our scheduled trial dates and eventual commercial launch."
About Mobidia Technology Inc.
Based in Richmond B.C., Mobidia Technology Inc. is a wireless technology company dedicated to providing software to wireless carriers around the globe. Mobidiaýs software product, .wave, provides adaptive intelligent overlay technology to wireless networks that will enable mobile devices and carrier networks to monitor, classify, and manage specific data typesý real-time requirements, providing comprehensive network reporting and ensuring increased bandwidth efficiency, increased network capacity, carrier control of new services over their networks, and increased reliability, overall QoS, and performance for such high value IP services as video streaming, wireless VoIP, video telephony, interactive gaming, email, corporate applications, and other multimedia services. Using several patentable technologies on the wireless device, Mobidia is the only company taking the necessary mobile device and carrier network approach to reliably manage the many wireless data issues being seen in the market today. Mobidia's solution also provides a carrier integration strategy for supporting multiple network technologies (2.5G-4G, Wi-Fi and WiMAX), delivering consistency of service and seamless switching between networks, or, the ability to use multiple networks simultaneously.
About British Columbia Discovery Fund (VCC) Inc.
British Columbia Discovery Fund (VCC) Inc. was established to make venture capital investments in a portfolio of small businesses in British Columbia that qualify under the Small Business Venture Capital Act, focusing on all of B.C.ýs top internationally recognized technology clusters; information technology, communications, health and life sciences, and energy and environmental technologies. Established in 2002, the Fund is the largest SBVCA registered venture capital corporation making diversified investments in British Columbia with the objectives of achieving long-term capital appreciation for its shareholders and contributing to the growth in value and employment of the technology industry in British Columbia. In addition to offering a means of participating in the potential of British Columbiaýs newest technology ventures, the Fund offers significant tax savings to eligible British Columbia individual and corporate investors. The Fund offers its shares on a continuous basis and has raised approximately $26 million to date.
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