Kivera, Inc. Raises $9.1 Million in Series A Funding
28 March 2000
Kivera, Inc. Raises $9.1 Million in Series A Funding
OAKLAND, Calif.--March 28, 2000--Kivera, a provider of location services for Web, wireless, and in-vehicle navigation has raised $9.1 million in Series A funding. New investor OffRoad Capital led the round, which included angel investors and DENSO Corporation of Japan in their first outside investment."The convergence of the Internet, wireless and location services puts Kivera in an exciting space. Our technology infrastructure story is extremely compelling but simple to explain, which made OffRoad's auction model especially attractive to us," said Clay Collier, Kivera's Founder and CEO.
Kivera technology transforms the digital world (roads, businesses, landmarks and more) into formats that are optimized for fast searching, routing and display. Kivera displays the results of location queries in the format appropriate for device - WAP phones, HTML web pages, Java applications, PalmOS, and more.
Kivera's strategic customers include DENSO and the American Automobile Association (AAA). DENSO is a $15 billion/year Japanese mobile components company that manufactures car navigation systems for Lexus, Cadillac, and Jaguar automobiles. Kivera creates the digital maps at the heart of these systems. "We depend on Kivera's unique capabilities in this strategically important business sector," said Richard F. Pearlman, General Manager, ITS-Research for DENSO International America. DENSO also manufactures Sprint's Touchpoint phone.
AAA has over 40 million members in the US. Its national headquarters uses Kivera technology to make paper maps and soon, to display AAA TripTiks on their web site. According to Bob Hopkins, Director, Administration and Publishing for AAA, "Kivera plays a critical role in delivering TripTik routings and other mapping applications to its members in any way that they would like to receive the information, both in paper and electronic formats." When the AAA site goes public, Kivera will be replacing MapQuest, which currently supplies these maps.
About OffRoad Capital
OffRoad Capital is a new kind of financial services company that has created the first private capital marketplace using the Internet where a community of high net worth individual investors and institutions can provide financing in the $3 to $15 million range to emerging growth companies. In addition to its strategic alliance with Mayfield Fund, OffRoad Capital also has alliances with Charles Schwab and Robertson Stephens. All activities relating to the purchase or sale of securities, including the qualification of and offerings to accredited investors, are conducted by a wholly owned broker-dealer subsidiary, OffRoad Securities. OffRoad is located at 50 Fremont Street in San Francisco and can be reached at 415-796-5000 or on the Internet at www.offroadcapital.com.
About Kivera
Kivera believes that there is nothing more valuable to a person on the go than information about their surroundings. In response, Kivera has developed next generation technology to enable mobile location services. Our customers serve markets that span web, wireless, and in-vehicle applications. Kivera products are available through license agreements, or as a private-label service. Kivera has perfected "The Art of Where." Kivera is located in downtown Oakland, at 1720 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94612. Phone (510) 763-3300. Web site: http://www.kivera.com.
Kivera and The Art of Where are trademarks of Kivera, Inc. AAA and TripTik are registered trademarks of the AAA.