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.”