ItsOn, a company that provides cloud-based solutions to enhance the way mobile operators interact with users, announced Thursday that it has raised $12.5 million in Series D funding to expand its services beyond the North American market.
The money, raised in a funding round led by Delta Partners Capital Limited with follow-on investments from Verizon Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Tenaya Capital and other investors, will be used to support the launch of ItsOn services in South America, Middle East, Africa and Europe.
Verizon Ventures’ Ed Ruth said the company first invested in the ItsOn seven years ago and is pleased to continue its support.
According to CEO Greg Raleigh, ItsOn offers mobile operators a modern way to interact with users instead of relying on exchanges that occur in retail locations.
“The mobile internet world has really taken off and companies like Amazon, Google and Facebook offer incredibly rich experiences on the mobile device,” Raleigh said. “Mobile operators, conversely, are still stuck with ancient technology for offering mobile services, and the way a user interacts with a mobile operator has become antiquated. Users demand a much more interesting experience, a much more personal experience, and they want to be able to buy what they want – no more, no less – and they want to be able to change their services.”
Raleigh said ItsOn provides operators with a virtual IT stack in the cloud that allows them to offer users a new suite of real-time services to control their accounts, as well as personalized incentives based on the customer’s data.
“It really transforms the operator’s interaction with the user, the user experience and the user’s ability to purchase or change their services,” Raleigh said. “It gives the user the ability at any time to add a device, add a family member, add a business account or remove people or devices from the account, to change services, to get free sponsored applications.
According to Raleigh, the company, which serves U.S. carriers Sprint and Virgin Mobile, has already secured new contracts in South America, the Middle East and Africa. ItsOn is also pursuing contract opportunities in Europe and Asia, he said.
Raleigh declined to provide a timeline for the launch of ItsOn’s services in the new markets.