VISAGE FORTIFIES FINANCING

Visage Mobile strengthened its hold on the business of facilitating mobile virtual network operators last week when it closed $30 million in series D funding. The round, led by Nomura International with participation from all previous Visage investors, is the last funding the company requires and will help bolster Visage for anticipated growth, said CEO Matt Johnson.

“It's almost double what we need for break-even,” Johnson said of the total $80 million the company has raised. “It's to fuel the growth of the five MVNOs we'll have on our platform next year.”

Those five MVNO partners — Primus Technologies, ESPN, Voce and two that have yet to be announced (though Disney is reported to be one) — are what give Visage a strong presence in a sector that's widely expected to continue growing apace.

“There's even more news that's unfortunately still under wraps,” Johnson said. “It's only going to get bigger.”

Alex Besen, founder of the Besen Group consultancy, recently named Visage a “total solutions provider” for the MVNO sector because of the breadth of its offering — from carrier connectivity to a strong operations software platform to customer care and marketing capabilities.

“Visage is the only MVNE that's bundling everything under one roof,” Besen said. “The competitive edge they have is that they've built the platform from the bottom up, and they're connected to the host network operators.”

Johnson also attributes Visage's success to the fact that the company is focused only on wireless and establishes long-term connections to the outfits it enables — as opposed to systems integrators that may set up an operator and then move on.

“We've crafted a risk-sharing business model with our partners,” Johnson said. “We have to make them successful. Not only do we not have another business to fall back on, we're also not compensated unless they succeed.”