Visage Mobile returns from the dead to focus on corporate phone management
Visage Mobile, former maker of software for mobile virtual network operators, unraveled a while ago, selling off most of its assets despite raising upwards of $90 million in venture capital. But now it’s reemerged with a new $2 million and a new business plan — software to help IT directors manage their employees’ mobile phones, reports VentureWire.
By recapitalizing, the San Francisco company was able to buy out its past investors that objected to its rebranding. It also cleared its debt and started offering employees new equity stakes.
In its former life, Visage was tapped by companies like Disney and ESPN, hitting a valuation of $200 million at its peak in 2007. Unfortunately, the company didn’t have the bandwidth to serve these high-profile clients and bring more on board.
Since then, its shift has been aided by the acquisition of Agistics, an early stage software-as-a-service company. It also offloaded chunks of the company unrelated to the new vision to Convergys Corp., a public telecom customer service company.
Its recent $2 million in venture backing came from Vesbridge Partners and Emergence Capital Partners. Visage hopes to bring in $1 million more in order to break even. While no one at Visage is disclosing which existing investors have been given walking papers, its large flock of past backers includes Advanced Technology Ventures, Mobius Venture Capital, Nomura International, Palisades Ventures, Selby Venture Partners, St. Paul Venture Capital and UMC Capital.
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About the Author, Camille Ricketts
Camille is the lead writer for GreenBeat. She came to VentureBeat from Google where she worked on its traditional platforms team, particularly in TV. Before that, she was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in New York and London. Follow her on Twitter at @camillericketts, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.
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