Press releases

May 22, 2003

SMARTNER SECURES 5 MILLION EUR VENTURE FUNDING
Investment takes total VC backing of Smartner to over 15 million EUR

Smartner Information Systems, the European market leader in mobile email and office solutions, today announced a EUR 5,000,000 funding commitment from leading European venture capital firms Amadeus Capital Partners, Eqvitec Partners, IT Provider and Sitra. The funding round is being led by Amadeus Capital Partners, the existing investor in Commtag which as part of this deal was acquired by Smartner in an all share transaction. The leading Scandinavian investors behind Smartner - Eqvitec Partners, IT Provider and Sitra - are also investing in this follow on round which sees Smartner fully funded through to profitability.

Andrea Traversone, Investment Manager of Amadeus Capital said, "The mobile data market is at an inflection point, triggered by the only truly successful corporate mobile application thus far: mobile email/PIM. The deployment of this application, which will accelerate with Smartphones and PDAs, has only been held back by the absence of software middleware that meets the differing needs of operators and enterprises. Smartner’s products were the first to address this need and now, with Commtag’s push technology, Smartner can storm the market."

Coming just days after Smartner was selected as a member of the Tornado100 listing of Europe’s most promising and innovative emerging companies in the technology sector, the additional funding will be used to develop the product offering as well as to expand the sales organisation, allowing the new company to achieve leadership as a mobile office provider in Europe.

"With operator customers such as Vodafone and enterprise customers such as CIBC, Smartner has already stamped its leadership on the European market," said Robert Rasmus, CEO, Smartner. "With the support of our major partners including both IBM and Microsoft, Smartner is entering an exciting period where it is poised ready to catch the wave of mobile enterprise data adoption. This financing will allow us to grow our business and be even more aggressive in pursuing the opportunities that the market for mobile office solutions is opening up for us. We see it as a major achievement to have attracted this money in the current market."

"Smartner has quickly established impressive credentials by developing a product suitable for all sizes of enterprises in all sectors and only last year IDC identified Smartner as its choice for leadership in the worldwide mobile middleware market. We’re confident that this new injection of investment will accelerate Smartner’s growth and secure its position as the European provider of mobile office solutions and enable it go on to win customers globally", says Jari Mieskonen, Partner of Eqvitec Partners.

Andrea Traversone of Amadeus Capital Partners joins the Smartner board as a non-executive director.

About Smartner
Smartner Information Systems, founded in September 1999, is a Finnish software company specialising in business mobility solutions. With Smartner's office and database solutions, operators and service providers can quickly and efficiently offer a comprehensive portfolio of mobile data access services to their enterprise customers.

Smartner’s operator customers include Vodafone Ireland, Swisscom Mobile, Radiolinja, among others. In May 2003, Smartner acquired a UK based wireless technology company Commtag, creating the new pan-European market leader for mobile office solutions.

About Amadeus Capital Partners
Amadeus is a specialist venture-capital firm backing new technologies. Founded in 1997, Amadeus manages £285 million and has backed 36 companies in the UK and continental Europe, covering computer hardware and software, mobile and fixed communications technologies and new media. The firm has established a reputation among entrepreneurs for Silicon Valley-style, hands on assistance and 'door opening', and among investors for proving that early stage technology investing can be profitable in the long term. www.amadeuscapital.com

About Eqvitec Partners
Eqvitec is the leading private and independent venture-capital firm in the Nordic countries specialising in technology companies. It has currently three funds with a total capiltal of €260 million euros. Eqvitec has invested in approximately 40 Finnish technology companies with growth potential. www.eqvitec.com

About IT Provider
IT Provider Adviser 1 AB, is a leading Nordic Venture Capital advisory firm focusing on accelerating the growth of Nordic early and expansion stage technology companies. IT Provider advises four different investment funds with a total of SEK 3 billion under management. The firm currently manage about 30 portfolio companies in the areas of communication technologies, software and content services. The team has completed more successful exits than any of its competitors in the region with 24 fully realized investments. www.itprovider.com

About Sitra
Sitra, Finnish National Fund for Research and Development, is a leading public fund dedicated to promising early-stage technology companies. Sitra is a shareholder in about one hundred different technology enterprises. Sitra invests primarily in the Finnish start-ups but also to international venture-capital funds concentrating on the high-tech field. www.sitra.fi