When founder Rick Bentley was at the University
of California, Berkeley, his motorcycle was
stolen. It was never recovered, but the incident
planted the seed of an idea that there must
be a way for people to track things that are
important to them. Fast forward to 1998. GPS
receivers had been reduced to the size of a
single chipset and new web and telephony systems
provided massively scalable, easy-to-use interfaces
for tracking and control functions. Hence, the
company was founded in December 1998, envisioned
as a service platform to enable numerous business
partners to bring low-cost tracking and control
services to a multitude of markets.
In January 2000, Televoke raised approximately
$3M through a Series A preferred financing
with Mobius Venture
Capital (previously SOFTBANK Venture Capital).
The first round of funding helped the company
successfully achieve its planned milestones:
completing the development of its service
system, securing a first-class channel partner,
and exploring opportunities with other potential
partners. In January 2001, Televoke launched
its telematics service platform with trial
customers, and in February 2001, Televoke
completed its second round of financing for
$6.7M led by WI Harper.
In July, Televoke appointed Bob Kimball as
new CEO. Then in September 2001, the company
launched commerical services with InterTrak,
and Omega.
In October, Televoke raised another $4 million
in an extension to its second round of venture
capital financing, led by Cardinal
Venture Capital. This additional funding
will enable Televoke to bring a number of
new partners to market, and expand the features
and functions of the Televoke system.
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