Deutsche Telekom said its T-Online Venture Fund unit was an equity participant in a US$20 million investment in Jajah as part of a venture round co-led by Intel Capital.
The investment marks the first time a dominant telecommunications player with a POTS heritage has so readily backed a firm that is building disruptive services that dramatically undercut the company’s own services.
Jajah recently announced it has acquired more than two million users from 55 countries in their first year of business by providing next-generation calling solutions, as well as ultra-low cost phone connections to the most called places on earth.
Unlike traditional VoIP (voice over IP) solutions, Jajah uses regular phones and does not require software or special equipment. A user simply initiates the call from www.jajah.com and Jajah connects the call to either landline or mobile phones, for a fraction of traditional cost.
Additionally, users can make the same calls from many mobile phones and from web enabled smart phones.
“The agreement is unprecedented. Jajah is the first Voice 2.0 company to receive this level of industry validation and support. The long-term implications can’t be understated,” said Jajah co-founder Roman Scharf.
T-Online Venture Fund, already well known for service and technology innovation investments, is expecting attractive synergies for Deutsche Telekom business units by bringing Jajah web embedded solutions to consumer and business customers.
“Jajah brings together the best of the Internet with the best of telephony,” said Jajah chief executive Trevor Healy. “It is great to receive this validation from the telecommunications industry, whom we have always considered the key partner in bringing world-class solutions to consumers.”
“T-Online Venture Fund links us to Deutsche Telekom, one of the clear leaders in global communications and brings to JAJAH unprecedented strength, validation of our proposition, and confirmation of our leadership in voice communication solutions,” Mr Healy said.
Deutsche Telekom is best known in the US for its mobile arm, T-Mobile, and is one of the worldwide leading telecommunication companies with over Euros61 billion revenue (A$100 billion) in 2006.
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