New round to fund ongoing development of world’s first global mobile operator

London, UK – 17th April 2008 – Mobile internet network operator Truphone has raised £16.5m ($32.7m) of Series B venture capital funding.

The round was led by private investors, with all of Truphone’s existing backers – Burda Digital Ventures, Eden Ventures, Independent News & Media and Wellington Partners – also participating. 

Truphone is a global, mobile operator that enables free and low-cost mobile phone calls via the internet, offering dramatic value to customers.  Through the recent purchase of SIM4travel, Truphone has also completed its GSM core network, which will enable it to offer low-cost GSM calls worldwide via a travel SIM.

With the additional funding available from the new round, Truphone plans to deliver on its vision of providing a killer combination of mobile cost and mobile convenience: a single, global SIM card that offers not only low call charges both domestically and abroad, but also internet calls at free and ultra-low prices.

“We aim to provide ultimate price and convenience, wherever you are.  One world, one SIM,” commented James Tagg, Truphone’s CEO.  “Beyond that, as a ‘Voice 2.0’ company we can start to develop and introduce new internet-based features and applications that give customers a richer mobile experience.”

“The additional funding reflects the investors’ belief in and understanding of this vision.  The capital will enable us to structure and focus our business to ensure that everything we do contributes towards the achievement of our aims,” he said.

John McMonigall, chairman of Truphone’s Board of Directors, said: “As we enter the next phase of the Truphone revolution, the success of this financing round makes it clear that our investors recognise the business opportunity from convergence and disruption in the mobile space.”

In December 2006, Truphone raised £12.5m ($24.5m) in Series A funding, believed to be the European technology sector’s largest Series A venture funding of 2006.

The company has developed a carrier-grade, global operator infrastructure including a global network of SIP gateways, a Nokia Siemens Networks mobile network Home Location Register (HLR) and a GSM identifier.  The infrastructure is capable of supporting 40 million customers worldwide.

This is all enabled by a series of global agreements with PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) and SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) providers.

For additional information, visit www.truphonepressoffice.com.