One97 Invests In Scottish Mobile Service Firm Ciqual

Mobile value added services firm One97 has invested in Ciqual, a Scotland-based mobile broadband customer service solutions firm along with Google CEO Eric Schmidt'sTomorrow Ventures and current Scottish investors, Par Equity.

One97 has started a $100-million fund with SAIF Partners to invest in mobile services related companies. Though the investment in CIQUAL was not disclosed, the firm invests typically in the range of $500,000 to $5 million. "Mobile broadband and smart phone ecosystem requires whole customer experience to be built from bottom up. We are excited to partner CIQUAL and be part of its success," Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Chairman and Managing Director of One97 Communications Limited said.

This latest round of financing will enable Ciqual to promote and distribute their patented technology, 'Session Insight' which delivers the most accurate, real-time, dynamic view of mobile broadband service and user experience. "We are thrilled that multiple investors have come together to recognize and support Ciqual. With our current customers already benefiting from our capabilities, this investment enables Ciqual to promote and deliver our solutions to a larger international user base," Tom Walls, CEO for Ciqual said.

Ciqual enables Mobile Operators to improve their data services through actual knowledge of the customer experience. CIQUAL combines direct selling with a series of channel partner relationships, including a worldwide channel partner agreement with Nokia Siemens Networks.

Scotland-based Par Equity is a venture capital firm providing financial and intellectual capital to innovative small and medium-sized companies with high growth potential. TomorrowVentures is an opportunistic investment firm with a global focus toward seed and early-stage venture capital investments. The deal was advised by the Scottish Investment Bank, a division of Scottish Enterprise which operates Scotland-wide, in partnership with Highlands and Islands Enterprise. One97, which has filed for a Rs 120 crore IPO, made more than 2.5 times on its investment in Singapore-based tenCube last year. tenCube is a mobile security services company whose product includes WaveSecure mobile security service. It was acquired by McAfee, Inc for $9.5 million in July whereas One97 had invested in late December '09 in the firm. One97 has also backed Oorja, a customer analytics firm; Paytm, a mobile commerce platform and Oc2ps, a social networking application.