10Meters News Report

April 16, 2001 – Bluetooth networking solutions firm Red-M has secured up to $35 million second-round funding.

An associate company of Madge Networks N.V., Red-M received the funding from Apax Partners Funds and Amadeus Capital Partners.

As part of the transaction, Red-M will receive up to $35 million and Madge Networks will get a cash payment of $8.65 million in exchange for Red-M shares. As an internal start-up, Red-M received initial funding from Madge Networks that enabled it to develop products for the emerging Bluetooth industry.

The funding will allow the Red-M to take its technology into its second stage and develop new products for Bluetooth, a wireless radio technology that allows handheld electronic devices within 10 meters of each other to share information. Headquartered in Wexham, U.K., Red-M has offices in Australia, Germany, and the U.S.

"This is a strong external endorsement of Red-M," said Red-M CEO Mike Wilson. "We have achieved an early lead in a market which is set to undergo tremendous growth over the coming years. This investment should enable us to execute on our business plan, fully funded, and take us to cash positive."

Wilson, Michael Risman from Apax Partners, Hermann Hauser from Amadeus Capital Partners, and Madge Network representatives Chris Bradley and Kirstie Hallgate will comprise the board of directors for Red-M.

Risman, a director at Apax Partners, said the Red-M investment "is consistent with our strategy of backing global market leaders in Europe . . . We believe that new short-range radio infrastructure technologies, such as Bluetooth, will emerge as a low cost platform for the launch of next generation wireless broadband applications and services."