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March 5, 2007, Vancouver,
BC: Sutus Inc., developer of Business Central, a complete
office communications solution designed specifically for small
businesses, today announced it closed $5 million in Series A funding
from two of Canada’s leading investors, the Working Opportunity Fund,
managed by GrowthWorks Capital, and BDC Venture Capital. The proceeds
from the funding will be used to fund general company operations, build
the sales channel, and initiate manufacturing through general
availability of its solution.
Founded in 2001, with over $5.5 million invested into its technology
pre-Series A, Sutus is preparing to commercialize its office
communications solution targeted at the small business market. Sutus’
Business Central consolidates three key business applications; voice,
data, and networking into one easy-to-use enterprise-quality solution.
Designed to be affordable, secure, and easy to install, use, and
manage, Business Central is targeted at businesses with fewer than 25
users.
“This marks an important milestone for us as we transition from a
development to a sales and marketing company,” said Jerry Meerkatz, CEO
of Sutus. “The small business market is under-served and hungry for a
simple, easy to understand communications solution that is affordable.
Business Central not only meets this demand, but has been designed to
be distributed through Cable Companies, Telephone Companies, and
Internet Service Providers, all of which have current relationships
with small businesses and are looking for value-added solutions that
not only increase revenues but also enable future services and create
customer loyalty.”
“We were impressed with the technical and engineering depth of the team
when we first engaged with Sutus,” commented Joe Timlin, Vice President
Investments of GrowthWorks. “We knew they had the potential to build
world class communications solutions based on their past successes.
This, combined with the positive feedback from channel partners on the
functionality and ease of use of the product compared to other
available offerings, caught our attention and led us to believe that
this company has strong growth potential.”
“Our due diligence confirmed that Business Central is extremely easy to
use and that Sutus has a technical lead over its competition,”
commented Geoff Catherwood, Director of BDC Venture Capital. “BDC is
pleased to be supporting such a strong management team and is equally
impressed with the commitment of Sutus’ incoming chairman, Greg Aasen
of PMCSierra.”
Joe Timlin from GrowthWorks Capital and Geoff Catherwood from BDC
Venture Capital will be joining Sutus’ board of directors.
About
GrowthWorks
GrowthWorks* (www.growthworks.ca) is a recognized leader in venture
capital fund management with proven experience in the raising and
managing of capital. GrowthWorks managed funds have $800 million in
combined assets and include the Working Opportunity Fund, GrowthWorks
Canadian Fund, GrowthWorks Commercialization Fund and GrowthWorks
Atlantic Venture Fund. GrowthWorks has a team of skilled and
knowledgeable investment professionals with a combined 200 years of
experience. The investment team has a proven track record of
identifying, analyzing, and structuring investments in emerging sectors.
*GrowthWorks refers to affiliates of GrowthWorks Ltd.
About
BDC Venture Capital
BDC Venture Capital is a major venture capital investor in Canada,
active at every stage of the company’s development cycle, from start-up
through expansion, with a focus on technologybased businesses that have
high growth potential and that are positioned to become dominant
players in their markets. BDC Venture Capital has been involved in
venture capital since 1975 and has to date invested in more than 400
different companies. It currently manages over $550 million in venture
capital assets invested in the areas of biotechnology, medical and
health related technology, telecommunications, information technology
and electronics.
About
Sutus
Sutus is a three year old North Vancouver company that provides small
businesses an enterprise quality telephone and office network
infrastructure, with a cost-effective all-in-one solution that
significantly reduces the need for third party installation and
management.
Sutus Business Central product
offerings have been developed around affordability, ease of
installation and simple management. With Sutus Business Central, small
businesses are able to completely install an enterprise-quality
telephone system and office network without needing any technical
expertise. As a result, they benefit from improved communications with
a minimal impact on their operating cash, more control of their office
and its infrastructure, and a system that is flexible and scalable
enough to grow with their business. For additional details, please
visit www.sutus.com. For more information please contact Sutus at (604)
987-8866 or by email at info@sutus.com.
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