Wireless startup’s Swiss founders find success in Berlin
Gate5 AG, a five-year old mobile communications software company is growing.
The company announced raising E6.5 million in venture capital led by Paris-based Innoven Partenaires SA.
Other investors include Munich-based Target Partners, which recently sold one of its young portfolio companies, WLAN AG to Swisscom.
Earlier investors, BC Brandenburg Capital GmbH and IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, two regional economic development funds targeting the Berlin area came back for this round too.
The company develops and hosts a platform for mobile operators and wireless terminal manufacturers to offer subscribers city guides with maps and driving instructions, all based on the approximate location of the end user.
Gate5 launched its first product just after the dotcom bubble burst but it has survived the ensuing economic slump. Customers include Sony Ericsson, Siemens, VW, and BMW.
The new capital will be used to further R&D – a number of jobs and internships are being advertised – as well as develop the market in Europe.
It was co-founded by Christophe Maire. He told Swiss Venture that most of the management team and founders are Swiss that chose to work in Berlin.
Maire managed a joint venture between Deutsche Telekom and Bertelsmann and worked as an Alcatel consultant, before setting up his own company.
He graduated with a Financial and Managerial Economics (MBA) degree from the Universities of St. Gallen and Barcelona.
by Valerie Thompson
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.