SUNROCKET ANNOUNCES $33 MILLION FUNDING ROUND
Varma, The Grosvenor Funds and Brú Venture Capital join all existing investors to participate in Series C
VIENNA, VA – August 25, 2006 – SunRocket, one of the nation’s fastest-growing Internet phone service providers, today announced that it has secured $33 million for its Series C round of institutional financing, bringing the firm’s total venture capital raised to approximately $80 million. The Series C includes participation from all of SunRocket’s existing investors: BlueRun Ventures, Mayfield Fund, DCM and Anthem Capital Management. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company, the largest private sector pension insurer in Finland, participated significantly in the Series C round, along with The Grosvenor Funds, a well-known Washington, D.C.-based venture capital firm, and Brú Venture Capital (BVC), a private equity and venture firm with investments in the U.S. and Europe. “The additional commitment from existing investors signals an unwavering belief that SunRocket has found the right recipe for success to strategically grow our customer base and implement the necessary fiscal restraint to achieve near-term profitability,” said Lisa Hook, president and CEO of SunRocket. “The Grosvenor Funds, Varma and BVC have strong relationships with our current funders and share SunRocket’s enthusiasm to build an Internet phone company that knows no boundaries when it comes to delivering innovation and value to the customer.” The infusion of capital will enable SunRocket to accelerate product and feature development, penetrate strategic new sales channels, and enhance the overall customer experience with a new customer care center that opened in Springfield, Missouri earlier this month. The new Springfield Customer Care Center – operational as of August 1st – will employ as many as 500 workers by the end of the year and offer a significant increase in call handling capacity for SunRocket’s expanding subscriber base. “SunRocket has nearly tripled its subscriber base in 2006 in tandem with an explosive yet still nascent residential VoIP market,” added John Malloy, General Partner, BlueRun Ventures. “This momentum demonstrates that SunRocket is hitting its stride at an ideal inflection point when mainstream consumers are beginning to embrace Internet phone service in record numbers.” “As consumers grow increasingly comfortable with VoIP as an alternative to traditional home phone service, this is an opportune time to invest in the U.S. Internet phone service market,” said Risto Autio, Head of Private Equity Investing at Varma. “We fully expect that SunRocket’s innovative approach and seasoned leadership team will enable the firm to pull away from the competition and emerge as a winner in this space.”   About SunRocket Headquartered in Vienna, Virginia, SunRocket, the “no gotcha” phone company, is bringing Internet phone service to mainstream America with the nation’s first full-year, flat-rate home phone package.  SunRocket is the only company to offer complete Internet phone service at an all-inclusive, bottom-line annual price of $199, with no hidden charges, termination penalties or “gotchas.” SunRocket makes it easy for households with high-speed Internet access to take advantage of the incredible value and enhanced capabilities of state-of-the-art Internet telephony.  For more information about this privately held corporation, see the company’s web site at www.SunRocket.com.

 

 

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