New Company Gaining a List of Leading Technology Companies as Customers in New Enterprise Software Market Segment
SAN MATEO, CA - July 24, 2002 - BLUEROADS Corporation, a channel management software company, announced that it has secured $1 million in its first round of outside funding. The Angels Forum and co-investor The Halo Fund, Palo Alto based early-stage investment firms provided the funding.
BLUEROADS was founded in the fall of 2001 and has developed outstanding traction in the market, gaining a list of leading technology companies as customers in the US and Europe, including SAP, Siemens, Citrix, Earthlink, Cablecom, and Viking Components. The company was able to close this funding in one of the leanest periods in venture capital investing based on its strong sales momentum. The investment will enable BLUEROADS to expand market development activities to further grow their customer base and extend their lead in the enterprise presales management market segment.
BLUEROADS solves the problem that has vexed marketing and sales management for years how to automate the presales process of distributing and managing sales leads, collecting feedback and analyzing sales results. BLUEROADS' channel management software allows large companies taht sell though multiple sales channels to manage their presales process, significantly increase their lead closing rate, and increase their marketing ROI.
"BLUEROADS software innovatively solves a real market need in a new software market segment with huge potential," said Carol Sands, Managing Member of The Angels' Forum. "BLUEROADS founders and management have an impressive track record of starting and growing IT companies and they have quickly gained a list of leading technology companies as customers. We believe that the company is well positioned for growth and leadership in this new software market segment."
BLUEROADS co-founder and CEO Axel Schultze was the founder of European IT wholesale giant Computer2000 and has started two other successful technology companies. Steve DeWindt, co-founder and VP of sales, established Intels reseller channel and was later co-president of Computer2000. BLUEROADS CFO George Shahid brings 20 years of experience in operations and finance with technology companies including fundraising, initial public offerings and mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining BLUEROADS, he served as Chief Operating Officer and CFO of Portalwave. BLUEROADS has also added two experienced executives as board members, Sam Prather, former SVP of engineering at CommerceOne (CMRC) and Roger Higgins, former SVP of sales at Keynote (KEYN) and former VP International at 3Com Corporation (COMS).
"BLUEROADS is the first company to bridge the lead management gap between internal and channel sales organizations by delivering results above a 100% increase in lead closure rate.," said Axel Schultze, "This investment will allow us to expand our sales and marketing efforts to meet the growing demand for our product and increase our already quickly growing customer base."
About BLUEROADS
BLUEROADS provides channel management software and expertise that allow companies to market and sell more effectively through indirect channels. BLUEROADS empowers individual partner sales representatives to actively participate in closed-loop sales and marketing processes, enabling companies to increase Return-on-Channel Investment. The company is headquartered in San Mateo, Calif. For more information about how BLUEROADS is helping companies create active channels with higher returns, visit our Website at www.BLUEROADS.com or call 650.349.8500.
About The Angels' Forum (TAF)
The Angels' Forum (TAF) is an early-stage investment organization comprised of 20 private equity investors who are supported by a professional management team. TAF applies the rigor, structure, and portfolio management of traditional venture capital investing to earlier stage angel investing. The Members of The Angels Forum are all successful business executives and entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds who share an interest in investing both time, as board members and advisors, and capital in promising early-stage companies. For more information, visit www.angelsforum.com.
About The Halo Fund
The Halo Fund is a limited partnership venture fund that invests in very early stage companies at the extreme front edge of technological progress in association with an organized group of experienced angel investors who actively manage their investments called The Angels' Forum (TAF). The Halo Fund benefits from the collective experience and wisdom from the Members of The Angels' Forum in the selection and management of portfolio companies. The Halo Fund's investors are qualified individuals, corporations, and institutions. For more information, visit http://www.angelsforum.com/halo_fund.
