Fon receives €5M of financing from Silicon Valley Bank to accelerate innovation and growth
FEBRUARY 12th 2015. LONDON.- Fon, the global WiFi network today announced that Silicon Valley Bank, the bank of the global innovation economy, has provided the company with a €5M growth capital loan. Fon will use the additional capital to pursue its global growth strategy.
Martin Varsavsky, CEO at Fon, said: “In today’s world, the capacity of mobile networks doesn’t match the explosive growth in mobile data traffic and WiFi is becoming more and more essential. Silicon Valley Bank provides more than financing and is uniquely placed to understand our industry and the specific needs of fast growing, innovative businesses like Fon.”
Joe Smart, Vice President at Silicon Valley Bank, added: “Fon has developed a disruptive way for delivering WiFi. Their special business model, strong execution and strategic relationships with telecom partners and investors are impressive. As Fon further grows its network globally, we look forward to being its long-term partner.”
About Silicon Valley Bank
Silicon Valley Bank is the premier bank for technology, life science, venture capital, private equity and premium wine businesses. SVB Financial Group provides industry knowledge and connections, financing, treasury management, corporate investment and international banking services to its clients worldwide through offices in the UK, U.S. and around the world. (Nasdaq: SIVB) www.svb.com/uk
Silicon Valley Bank is registered in England and Wales at 41 Lothbury, London EC2R 7HF, UK under No. FC029579. Silicon Valley Bank is authorised and regulated by the California Department of Business Oversight and the United States Federal Reserve Bank; authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority with number 577295; and subject to regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority and limited regulation by the Prudential Regulation Authority. Details about the extent of our regulation by the Prudential Regulation Authority are available from us on request. Silicon Valley Bank is a subsidiary of SVB Financial Group, a Delaware corporation and is an affiliate of SVB Financial Group UK Limited. SVB Financial Group UK Ltd is registered in England and Wales at 41 Lothbury, London EC2R 7HF, UK under No. 5572575 and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, with reference number 446159. SVB Financial Group and its subsidiary Silicon Valley Bank are members of the Federal Reserve System and Silicon Valley Bank is a member of the FDIC.
About Fon
Fon was founded in February 2006 by serial entrepreneur Martin Varsavsky with the goal of blanketing the world with WiFi. Today the company is a global WiFi leader with more than 14 million hotspots in more than 200 countries. Fon has offices in Madrid, London, Tokyo and New York. Its partners include among others; BT (UK), Deutsche Telekom (Germany), KPN (Netherlands), Proximus (Belgium), MTC (Russia), MWEB (South Africa), Oi (Brazil), SoftBank (Japan) and Telstra (Australia). Fon’s vision is to be “always on, always on the move”, thinking ahead on how the connected future will look like and innovating with new devices such as Gramofon, a WiFi music player. For more information, please visit fon.com