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SkyBitz Secures $16 Million in Financing Motorola Deal

ready to make a truck load of money out of GPS

Dulles - Jan 07, 2004
As further testament to the company's viability and leadership position in the transportation industry, SkyBitz secured $16 million in a Series C round to continue marketing efforts and product enhancements for its satellite-based asset tracking and information management service.

This Series C equity financing was co-led by Inverness Capital Partners and Motorola Ventures, the venture capital arm of Motorola, Inc., with original investors AIG Highstar Capital and Cordova Ventures participating as well. To date, cumulative funding has reached $41 million. In addition to their investment, Motorola, Inc. has entered into a separate agreement with SkyBitz to develop new products that use the company's patented Global Locating System (GLS) Platform.

"This new round of funding, as well as the commercial agreement with Motorola, sends a clear message to the industry and customers. SkyBitz is here for the long haul," said Andy Wood, CEO, SkyBitz.

With this new agreement, SkyBitz and Motorola plan to jointly develop new products that build upon the GLS Platform and expand distribution into new business and consumer markets. Moving forward, the SkyBitz Network Operations Center (NOC) will provide the network infrastructure for all future Motorola implementations of the GLS Platform.

"Motorola's relationship with SkyBitz will initially revolve around the GLS Platform. Through our technology relationship, we expect to jointly develop a superior range of asset tracking and monitoring products for multiple markets," said Warren Holtsberg, general manager and corporate vice president of Motorola Ventures. "By leveraging SkyBitz's technology, Motorola will be able to offer its customers new satellite-based products and services that are smaller, faster and have extended battery life."

"Our decision to invest in SkyBitz was based on several key factors: an experienced management team lead by Andy Wood, their patented proprietary technology that provides customers with a convincing ROI, and the compelling growth potential of the asset monitoring and management industry," said Skip Maner a managing principal with Inverness. "We are impressed with SkyBitz's accomplishments to date, and we are confident they will continue to deliver results, as well as set industry standards."

Since coming on board in March 2003, Wood has restructured the company and brought on new management, signed on 40 new customers, instituted an ROI Guarantee demonstrating SkyBitz's commitment to its customers and GLS' ability to increase operational efficiencies, and expanded its core product line to include new enhancements such as Door and Cargo Sensors. These steps will move SkyBitz to cash flow positive status into 2005, further validating the company's viability.

"From our standpoint, it was important to choose an asset tracking service provider that not only delivers quality products, but one that will grow with our needs - and the trucking industry's - over time," said Dean Rigg, CFO, Mesilla Valley Transportation. "After researching several companies, it was apparent to us that SkyBitz's GLS technology is the future of trailer tracking."

SkyBitz has developed the Global Locating System (GLS) Platform to give customers the ability to track powered and un-powered assets, thus providing total asset visibility within the global supply chain.

Designed to scale and adapt to a customers business needs, the SkyBitz GLS Platform is a cost-effective solution that helps fleets lower operating costs and improve their service offerings. The patented GLS solution outperforms GPS-based tracking systems by utilizing a unique wireless satellite technology and centralized position calculations. The GLS mobile communicator is compact, simple to install and provides multiyear battery life.

Related Links
SkyBitz
Inverness Capital Partners
AIG Highstar Capital
Cordova Ventures
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US Air Force Awards Lockheed Martin Team Study Contract For NextGen GPS System
Sunnyvale - Jan 07, 2004
The U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin one of two industry contracts valued at approximately $20 million each to enter the next development phase of an advanced Global Positioning System, to be known as GPS III.







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