Irvine’s Q4Bis Inc., a maker of software used by businesses to analyze financial data, raised $6 million in its first round of funding.
Del Mar-based private equity firm TVC Capital LLC was the sole investor in the round. Two partners at TVC are set to join Q4Bis’ board, the company said.
Founder and Chief Executive Herbert Schoenek started the company about a dozen years ago in New Zealand. He moved it to Irvine in 2003.
Q4Bis targets midsize companies that have sales of $50 million to $500 million. It also goes after smaller units of Fortune 500 companies.
The company has about 15 local workers, and a sales staff in New Zealand and Germany.
Up until now, the company was funded out of Schoenek’s pocket, according to spokesman Ross Morris. He doesn’t plan to seek out more funding, Morris said.
The money will be used to add salespeople and for a marketing push, Morris said.
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Ingram Micro: opening office in Buenos Aires, set to house 35 workers |
The company is operating at breakeven and expects to be profitable soon, Schoenek said.
Many of Q4Bis’ customers are manufacturers, who use the software to glean useful data about their productivity, sales, costs and shipping.
Q4Bis fills a niche that’s largely untapped by big business software makers such as Irvine’s Epicor Software Corp. and Oracle Corp.
“The classic providers of business intelligence didn’t care about medium-sized companies,” Ross said. “Their software was expensive and difficult to deploy.”
Q4Bis’ some 200 customers include Burger King Corp.’s New Zealand restaurants, Hewlett-Packard Co.’s business consulting arm and Royalty Carpet Mills Inc. in Irvine.
Ingram in Argentina Again
Santa Ana-based Ingram Micro Inc., the largest distributor of technology products, is opening an office in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
It’s set to have about 35 workers.
This will be Ingram’s second go around in the “city of good air.”
Ingram first set up shop there in 1999.
The company left in 2002, after the Argentinean peso crashed and the economy plummeted into recession.
“Argentina’s economic and political environments have stabilized and the (information technology) market is thriving,” said spokesman Jim Trainor. “We already know the market and have a basic infrastructure in place.”
Having been there before, the company stands to have an easier time, according to Alain Maquet, president of Ingram Micro Latin America.
The company plans to distribute computer parts, networking devices, software and other gear from a building and warehouse it already owns.
“We have a unique opportunity to re-enter the country with lower costs and risks than usual for a business startup due to our existing infrastructure,” Maquet said. “Plus, we’ve learned from our earlier experience there.”
It also has distribution facilities in Chile, Mexico and Brazil.
The company’s Latin American exports are sent from offices in Miami, Trainor said.
Tickets.com Expanding
Costa Mesa-based Tickets.com Inc. is set to expand into Asia as part of a deal with Quebec Leisure International Ltd. of Singapore.
Tickets.com provides software used by distributors to sell tickets to sports games, concerts and other live events.
Terms of the deal with Quebec Leisure were not disclosed. Quebec Leisure is the event management division of NTUC Club, which operates a chain of theme parks and resorts in Singapore.
The deal puts Tickets.com’s software in more than 400 kiosks around Singapore. The kiosks are similar to ATMs, but dispense tickets instead of cash.
Tickets.com is a unit of MLB Advanced Media, the Internet and media unit of Major League Baseball LP.
Its software allows customers to go paperless via a cell phone text messaging capability called MMS.
Customers can buy tickets online and then receive a barcode that will get them into the event.
Tickets.com has about 80 people at its Costa Mesa office.
