Volantis

Volantis was a mobile internet software company based in Guildford, England, now owned by Antenna Software, Inc. Volantis provides mobile applications and software solutions which give operators and enterprises access to a content delivery platform and a device database, which contained over 7,000 handsets as of February 2010.[1] Volantis was part of the W3C’s Mobile Web Initiative,[2] a member of the Open Mobile Alliance[3] and an advocate of Open Standards.

For Lady Gaga's "flying dress" air vehicle, see TechHaus Volantis. For the fictional city, see Volantis (A Song of Ice and Fire). For the Google and HTC tablet codenamed "Volantis", see Nexus 9.

Volantis Systems
TypePrivate
IndustryMobile (Internet)
Founded2000
HeadquartersGuildford, UK
Key people
Mark Watson
Brett Nulf
Martin Gaffney
Jennifer Bursack
ProductsFramework
Mobile Site-builder
Mobile Banking
Mobile Self-care
ServicesContent management
M-commerce solutions
Portal Management
App creation
Campaign management
Subscription management
Number of employees
150
Websitewww.antennasoftware.com

History

Volantis was founded by Jennifer Bursack, Martin Gaffney, Brett Nulf, and Mark Watson, who had all worked together at Tivoli Systems (a subsidiary of IBM) in the UK. In March 2000 the four founders resigned from IBM and approached investors under the name Unwired Ltd.[4]

The company name was changed, a few months later, to Volantis Systems Ltd. - the taking its name from the constellation Volans. The company’s logo is a representation of the constellation.

The initial idea, which the founders took to investors, involved "developing a yellow pages-like directory service for mobile phones". This was soon dropped in favor of creating "technologies to enable companies to build web sites for all sorts of devices—smart phones, kiosks, digital televisions, gaming consoles, and...mobile phones".[5]

The company received an initial investment of $3.2m from Kennet Partners in mid-2000. In 2001, the company received a round of funding led by Softbank Europe. The company grew quickly until the collapse of the Internet bubble and the events of 11 September 2001 forced Volantis to downsize and consolidate. Several significant telecommunications account signings (including Telefonica and Hutchison Whampoa) helped the company to recover and led it to change from offering "a multi-device service to a single device service", as "an enabler for mobile phone carriers."

Another funding round, led by Accel Partners, was completed in 2002, and in July 2005, Volantis raised a further $7.5 million, bringing the total venture capital raised to $31.6 million.[6] This achievement was recognised by Fast Track, who included the company in their Tech Track 100 (run in association with The Sunday Times) in 2006.[7]

Awards

Successful fund-raising, a series of high-profile client wins and expansion into America, which "helped to boost sales 120% a year from £1.6m in 2003 to £7.9m in 2005" led to the company's inclusion in Fast Track's Tech Track 100 in 2006.[8]

In 2010, Volantis was selected as a Distinguished Honoree in the Telecoms category at the Stevie Awards for international business achievement in recognition of their mobile self-care solution.[9]

Open Source contributions

Volantis released a Java-based open source framework for web applications building by mobile developers in early 2008.[10]

Acquisition

Volantis was acquired by Antenna Software in February 2011; the financial details of the acquisition were not released.[11] Antenna Software was, in turn, bought by Pegasystems in 2013.[12]

References
  1. David Murphy, Mobile Marketing, 18 February 2010, http://mobilemarketingmagazine.com/content/volantis-celebrates-device-library-milestone
  2. 'Volantis chaired the W3C DIWG and was also a Founding Sponsor of the W3C Mobile Web Initiative', Light Reading, 21 June 2005, http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=76088
  3. Open Mobile Alliance - Current Members, http://www.openmobilealliance.org/Membership/CurrentMembers.aspx, retrieved 4 August 2010
  4. Mike Harkey, Stanford Graduate School of Business Case Study - Volantis, 15 May 2006, https://gsbapps.stanford.edu/cases/documents/E224.pdf, retrieved 15 September 2010
  5. Mike Harkey, Stanford Graduate School of Business Case Study - Volantis, 15 May 2006, https://gsbapps.stanford.edu/cases/documents/E224.pdf, retrieved 16 September 2010
  6. Mike Harkey, Stanford Graduate School of Business Case Study - Volantis, 15 May 2006, https://gsbapps.stanford.edu/cases/documents/E224.pdf, retrieved 19 October 2010
  7. Fast Track, 2006 Tech Track 100, 2006, http://www.fasttrack.co.uk/fasttrack/leagues/dbDetails.asp?siteID=3&compID=1891&yr=2006, retrieved 19 October 2010
  8. Fast Track, 2006 Tech Track 100, 2006, http://www.fasttrack.co.uk/fasttrack/leagues/dbDetails.asp?siteID=3&compID=1891&yr=2006, retrieved 19 October 2010
  9. The International Business Awards, New Product & Product Management Awards Category Honorees, 1 August 2010, http://www.stevieawards.com/pubs/iba/awards/408_2633_20490.cfm, retrieved 19 October 2010
  10. NetworkWorld, Volantis releases open source mobile Internet toolkit, 21 Mar 2008, http://www.networkworld.com/redesign08/news/2008/032108-voltanis-mobile-open-source.html?page=2
  11. TechCrunch, Antenna Acquires Mobile Internet Software Company Volantis, 7 Feb 2011, https://techcrunch.com/2011/02/07/antenna-acquires-mobile-internet-software-company-volantis/
  12. Pegasystems acquires Antenna Software. Business Standard, 16 October 2013.
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