Thinking Phone Networks, Inc., also known as ThinkingPhones, the innovative leader in unified communications as a service (UCaaS), today announced that it has closed a $56.7 million round of Series D financing led by Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV), a leading provider of capital to growth-stage private and public companies in the technology industry. The round also includes funding from existing investor Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP). TCV general partner Ted Coons has been named to ThinkingPhones' board of directors, effective immediately.
The investment will enable ThinkingPhones to capitalize on the revolutionary shift in business communications driven by the widespread adoption of mobile devices in the enterprise. Funds will be used to accelerate product innovation, dramatically expand ThinkingPhones' global sales force, and enhance customer support services. The company expects to more than double its workforce by the end of 2015.
'TCV's investment is great validation of the market as a whole, and more specifically of our vision to transform business communication by developing key mobility-enabled enterprise applications,' said Steve Kokinos, ThinkingPhones president and CEO. 'Communication systems are the only applications that truly have 100% penetration across the entire enterprise-this creates incredible, previously untapped value for business owners in terms of automating processes and uncovering buried analytics. We are the sole company addressing these issues head on.'
Founded in 2006, ThinkingPhones unifies its enterprise customers' business voice, video, text messaging, and collaboration services on a single, mobile-ready cloud platform that is accessible from any device, including employees' smartphones via the ThinkingPhones mobile app. Once connected, the ThinkingPhones platform readily integrates with the key business applications many enterprises already have in place, such as CRM and ERP services. To bring it all together, ThinkingPhones' analytics solution aggregates data from across communications and business applications and liberates critical information previously locked inside antiquated traditional phone systems. The result is a complete, dashboard-driven picture of workforce and BYOD activity across all UC applications.
'TCV views ThinkingPhones as a true technology leader that is disrupting the market with a clear and simple value proposition for enterprises: reduced hard costs through decreased IT expenses, and improved soft costs through increased workforce productivity and accountability,' said Ted Coons, TCV general partner. 'ThinkingPhones exemplifies the innovation, strong business growth, and leadership we seek in our portfolio companies. I am pleased to partner with their existing investors, board members, and outstanding management team led by founders Steve Kokinos and Derek Yoo.'
In the past year, ThinkingPhones has demonstrated strong momentum across all facets of the company. In addition to being named a Gartner 'Leader' in the Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications as a Service for the third year in a row, ThinkingPhones received Frost & Sullivan's 'Company of the Year' Award in the North American hosted IP telephony and UCC services market and Technology Marketing Corporation's 'INTERNET TELEPHONY Unified Communications Product of the Year' designation. The company also expanded its global service deployment footprint with the addition of a data center facility in Frankfurt, Germany and a new office in the U.K.
'We view TCV as a strategic partner that, along with existing venture partners BVP, G20, and Advanced Technology Ventures, will help us become an unstoppable force in meeting the increasing global demand for UCaaS,' said Kokinos. 'We have already expanded from North America to the EMEA region, and these new funds will allow us to significantly grow our international presence to other geographies.'
About ThinkingPhones
Cloud services from ThinkingPhones are deployed by hundreds of enterprises at thousands of corporate locations around the globe. The company's mission is to make businesses' systems work for them while providing apps that both management and staff love. The ThinkingPhones solution seamlessly unifies business voice, text, and conferencing services on a single, award-winning cloud platform, connects them to other cloud applications, and delivers intelligent, mobile-ready apps. For more information, visit http://www.thinkingphones.com.
About Technology Crossover Ventures
Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV), founded in 1995, is a leading provider of capital to growth-stage private and public companies in the technology industry. With nearly $10 billion in capital raised, TCV has invested in more than 200 technology companies over the last 18 years. Selected investments include Altiris, C|NET, ExactTarget, Expedia, Facebook, Fandango, FX Alliance, GoDaddy, Genesys Software, Groupon, HomeAway, Netflix, RealNetworks, Redback Networks, RiskMetrics Group, Sitecore, Splunk, Spotify, Thinkorswim, VICE Media, and Zillow. TCV is headquartered in Palo Alto, California, with offices in New York and London. For more information about TCV, including a complete list of TCV investments, visit http://www.tcv.com.