I am happy to announce that FON has raised another 10 million euros (or $13 million for a total of around $35 million raised since our incorporation in Feb 06). Funds were raised from a combination of current investors including myself and 4 non US new strategic investors whose identities we will disclose in the near future.
Proceeds of the round will be used for R&D and growing the number of Foneros around the world. Foneros are members of the FON Community, the largest WiFi community in the world. With FON you share a little bandwidth at home or work and you get to connect for free to all the other FONspots of Foneros around the world.
Foneros join FON by buying the La Fonera, FON’s unique WiFi routers that safely partition your WiFi signal into a private WiFi network that you access at home and where you have guaranteed bandwidth, and a roaming WiFi community called “FON” that other Foneros occasionally use when they pass near your home or workplace and log into. The La Foneras cost $/€39.95, their purchase price includes a lifetime free membership to the FON Community.
FON is now present in over 80 countries around the world. Key FON countries are USA, Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, UK, Sweden, and Holland. FON distributes its WiFi routers directly through retailers or through our ISP and telco partners around the world. In key countries, FON is the first or second largest WiFi network by number of hotspots. The financing round closed yesterday.
Follow Martin Varsavsky on Twitter: twitter.com/martinvars
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bernard on March 7, 2007 ·
Congrats Martin and also, maybe for the unconfirmed BT deal…:)
Might there be others in the pipe?
bernard
Stefano Vitta on March 7, 2007 ·
So.. Have MORE Fon!! 😉
Ander Hilario Gómez on March 7, 2007 ·
Congrats Martín!
It’s great news for the fon community
cheers,
Lui not St. Looie on March 8, 2007 ·
China needs a cultural rev. And starbucks will cater it as long as casinos and asset managers want it.
Boyd R. Jones on March 8, 2007 ·
We are a China-based VC that might be interested in working with you in China. http://www.itechvc.com . Contact me if there are possibilities for extended rounds, etc.
PJMDS on March 8, 2007 ·
Use that money wisely, you need to encourage people to have their foneras connected with your FON firmware, improve that firmware with nice features like WDS (the mesh stuff like meraki would be great), site survey, communication with connected foneros (just having their skype contact listed would be nice), more controls on the router not on your site, etc.
Your wasting money with promotions like fonero get fonero, most people are just abusing the promotion, they receive the free fonera and sell it or just put other firmware and use it for other purposes.
Be smart and take advantage of the cheap wifi phones that are emerging on the market, promote them and you will have more connected foneras because people would have foneras connected to use their phones at least at home.
Best regards and congratulations
Ander Hilario Gómez on March 8, 2007 ·
C’mon we miss the kind of ads that you used to make up in ya.com; they were funny and relatively cheap weren’t them?
When are you going to do something like that in fon?
Francois Legendre on March 8, 2007 ·
Congrats
Martin Varsavsky on March 9, 2007 ·
Ander,
Yes they were! U r right we have to come up with something as funny 😉
Florin Ivan on March 16, 2007 ·
Hello,
My name is Ivan Florin and i’m from Romania.
Id like to know if this is the official possition of FON about Romania
“FON IS THE LARGEST WIFI COMMUNITY IN THE WORLD
may be not in Romania…
(Romania is not the whole world…)
anyway…. not for now.”
This was post by your English board moderator “moderfon” in March 16, 2007, and id like to know your official possition about this “discrimination”, looks more like a personal opinion, but from one moderator what represent FON on that Board.
I’m waiting your official answer about this public on forum.
The answer from your moderator board is totaly unproffessional.
Romania is a Europe country, member of Europe Union, with same right like other country.
The post link is:
http://boards.fon.com/viewtopic.php?p=18217#18217
Thank you again, and i waiting your answer as soon is possibile.
PS: I belive in this “project” and with my own forces i will start in Romania FON community too, with or without FON support.
I don’t know if is the right place where to write this, but i still belive somebody do something and correct the moderator discrimination about Romania.
Best Regards,
Florin Ivan
Lele Dainesi on March 19, 2007 ·
Martin, congratulations!
I’m almost finished to prepare an italian dossier on connectivity (WiMax, Wi-Fi, FON movement etc.) and I’m convinced that FON movement is the most innovative of the last 3-4 years all other the web-world.
Italy is dominated by lobby (Telecom Italia) and particular interest of a grape of interest and only FON could free people to boost their digital lifestyle.
Martín Varsavsky on March 19, 2007 ·
Thank u Lele and do send it over, I read Italian.
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Monster on March 7, 2007 ·
Very interesing point. Wherefore will you spend the raised money?
Or do you need it to compensate the missing revenue.
I hope we’ll see interesting and funny marketing campaigns 🙂 Or wise cooperations.
Monster, DE