"Fortiva has taken the most appealing aspects of both managed and in-house solutions and combined them. This unique hybrid model will give organizations a new, better option for managing their email archiving needs."
Ted Anderson, Senior Vice President, Ventures West
For more information:
Sarah Grant
sgrant@highroad.com
514.908.0110 ext. 313
Jumana Chowdhury
jumana.chowdhury@fortiva.com
416.366.6666 ext. 385
Fortiva Raises $5 Million in Series A Financing
April 4, 2005 – Toronto, ON – Fortiva Inc, a provider of email archiving solutions for compliance and legal discovery, today announced that it has raised an additional US$4 million in equity financing from Ventures West and Mclean Watson Capital. This amount is in addition to the US$1 million invested by McLean Watson in late 2004. The funds will be used to support sales and marketing efforts as well as further product development.
"Our investors recognize this burgeoning market is ready for a next-generation archiving solution to meet the needs of a broader audience," said Paul Chen, President and CEO of Fortiva. "We are very pleased to complete our first round of financing giving Fortiva the resources needed to help set a new standard in the managed email archiving space."
According to industry analyst firm IDC, email archiving applications revenue is expected to top $180 million worldwide in 2004, up from just $33 million two years ago, and will continue to grow at a compound annual growth rate of over 50% through 2008. This demand is being driven by the reality that email is now the primary communications tool used by business, as well as regulatory compliance legislation, an increasing emphasis on establishing sound corporate governance principals, and the growth of requests for email during legal discovery.
"Fortiva has taken the most appealing aspects of both managed and in-house solutions and combined them," said Ted Anderson, Senior Vice President, Ventures West. "This unique hybrid model will give organizations a new, better option for managing their email archiving needs."
Fortiva recently launched its hybrid email archiving solution, a product designed to help organizations meet regulatory compliance, legal discovery and email storage management requirements. Using DoubleBlind Encryption™ technology, Fortiva ensures all email data is securely encrypted in both transmission and storage, eliminating traditional security concerns with outsourced data storage. The product's hands-on' approach also gives administrative staff all the tools required to update policies, set retention periods, and search email through a simple-browser-based application.
"Fortiva's founders have exceptional track records building and selling highly scalable managed solutions," said John Eckert, Managing Partner, McLean Watson Capital. "We are pleased to be a founding financial partner in this exciting new business, led by such a strong management team."
About Fortiva Inc.
Fortiva Inc. offers the only hybrid email archiving solution that combines the control and privacy of an in-house solution with the benefits of a managed offering, allowing businesses to quickly and easily meet compliance and legal discovery needs. The Fortiva Archiving & Compliance Suite™ consists of five components including Fortiva Policy, Fortiva Archive, Fortiva Discovery, Fortiva Supervision, and Fortiva Reports. Integrating with Microsoft Exchange and Active Directory, the Suite provides businesses with complete data privacy in an easy-to-implement, easy-to-use application with real-time search and discovery, supervision and enforcement features. For more information on Fortiva, visit www.fortiva.com.
About Ventures West
Ventures West Management Inc., a private venture capital investment group, is one of Canada's leading investors in early stage technology companies. Since its founding in 1968, Ventures West has formed eight venture capital funds which total over $700 million and has invested in more than 130 companies. Ventures West has the people, the expertise, and the capital to help entrepreneurs develop emerging technology companies into market leaders. Investments focus on four technology sectors: Biotechnology, Communications, Energy Technology and Information Technology. For more information, visit www.ventureswest.com.
About McLean Watson Capital
McLean Watson is one of Canada's leading private venture capital investors. Based in Toronto, Canada, McLean Watson also has offices in Ottawa and Singapore. Investors in McLean Watson's funds include several of Canada's largest pension funds and money managers, as well as leading members of the technology and financial services industries. McLean Watson focuses on investments in the technology sectors. For more information, visit www.mcleanwatson.com.