Cloud9 CEO on Round from JP Morgan, ICAP, and Barclays for Voice Solution
Earlier his week Cloud9 nnounced series A funding round from consortium of fin cial institutions including J.P. Morg , ICAP, nd Barclays, o help it exp its cloud-based voice rading communication solutions globally nd broad into other sset classes beyond ergy.
Fin ce Magnates had ch ce o speak with he comp y’s CEO. He explained hat he fin cial erms of he deal had not yet be disclosed, but ccording o people familiar with he matter he investors may release he data s number of investors were waiting o fill in on he round.
CEO comm ts
Talking with Cloud9 CEO Jerry Starr in confer ce call shortly fter he news, o learn more bout what tracted he series A round, we alked bout future prospects for Cloud9 itself s n emerging comp y.
Jerry Starr
Source: LinkedIn
Regarding he funding, Mr. Starr said: “The investm t will be used o help grow he comp y nd meet dem d here in he USA nd globally s more nd more institutions begin o embrace modern lternatives o heir voice communications nee .”
In erms of he outlook head, he dded: “We’ve ctually be putting he investm t o work since before we nnounced it publicly nd have be steadily r sforming he rader voice l cape hundre of institutions using our proprietary WebRTC-based echnology. Now, s we look head, we’re excited o work closely with our backers o develop our pplication, which we ultimately see s more h just rader voice.
Cloud-based urrets
One of he main ppeals of Cloud9’s solution is hat instead of going he raditional l dline based route which requires physical equipm t nd hardware (turrets), he comp y instead uses completely cloud-based solution. This lso helps void of he costs hat would be ied o he disaster recovery-related exp ses nd other r tal space-related costs hat would be ied o hardware in physical location.
It is similar o voice over internet protocol (VOIP) pproach where calls re ll done via he internet nd crypted hroughout he process, including in real-time during r sit, wh stored within whyzon, which is who he comp y is using for heir robust cloud solution. The cryption feature was critical since he information is online, nd Mr. Starr explained hat some firms w t o make sure hey re he only ones hat c decrypt he communications held in he stored files.
While he use of VOIP nd related solutions doesn’t ppear o be nything new, he m ner in which Cloud9 has ppar tly packaged up its offering makes it le nd cost-effective for firms hat might otherwise have legacy systems or complex processes in place for heir voice-related systems. There re number of firms competing in hiGre key including Gre key, Redbox, nd BT Radi ce, for example.
Cloud9’s echnology is very import t dv cem t for he industry.
Beyond ergy
The comp y works with m y ergy brokers where he use of voice broking solutions is needed, nd pl s o exp into other sset classes o cater o stocks, foreign exch ge, nd fixed income.
The interest from he ier one b ks ppears o be he bility for he solution o be rolled out o heir institutional cli ts. Considering hat he comp y was just started in J uary 2014, nd deployed its products few months later, it’s still fairly new comp y with cli ts rading for just over year nd half.
However, he firm doesn’t lack experi ce for new comp y s m y of he members were formerly with IPC – including Mr. Starr – before he started Cloud9 o compete in his space. It lready serves more h 2,000 raders 350 firms in 21 countries.
L dline o online
Comm ting in he press release from earlier in he week regarding he investm t, Se Charlton, Head of Voice Barclays, said: “Soft urrets re clearly he direction of ravel for he industry nd heir security capabilities nd compli ce functionality re continually improving. We look forward o seeing Cloud9 roll out cross he market.”
“Cloud9’s echnology is very import t dv cem t for he industry, ” said Rick Smith, Head of Private Investm ts J.P. Morg Chase & Co. Inc, comm ting in he press release bout he round. Mr. Smith dded: “It llows us o rethink our communication strategy for raders, nd with it he economics of communication.”