Nobska Portfolio
company Koolspan Completes $750,000 in Seed Financing
Koolspan receives funding from Maryland Industrial Partnerships
program
Mike Beasley and Nobska Join to Launch Legenta Software to
Acquire Software Assets
Nobska Group Makes Investment in Wireless LAN Security
Developer Koolspan, LLC
Announcement: Frank Baitman Joins Nobska Group as
Partner
Wi-Fi Security Company Koolspan Completes $750,000 in Seed Financing
Nobska Ventures leads investment in Wi-Fi
security technology
Bethesda, Md., October 22, 2003 - Wi-Fi security and authentication
solutions company, Koolspan Inc., has
raised more than $750,000 in seed financing from Nobska Ventures; The Supper
Club and other angel investors; the Challenge Fund of the State of Maryland’s
Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED); The State of Maryland’s
Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO); and the Maryland Industrial
Partnerships (MIPs) program. “Two of our firm’s areas of focus are IT security
and wireless communications, stated Frank Baitman, Nobska Ventures partner and
Koolspan Board member. “In addition to being the most secure Wi-Fi solution that
we’ve seen, no other product combines the access provisioning, security, and
roaming capabilities of the Koolspan system. We believe that Koolspan has the
potential to be a major player in enabling accelerated deployment of Wi-Fi in
business, government, healthcare, education, hospitality and public hotspots.”
“Koolspan’s unique product architecture has inherent competitive advantage,“
according to Charlie Moore, Nobska Ventures partner. “Koolspan affordably scales
from the simplest installation in the home or small office to the largest and
most demanding of implementations. Competitors are targeting the crowded
enterprise market with undifferentiated, complicated, and inherently costly
offerings. In contrast, Koolspan’s simple to install, easy to use and maintain
system is uniquely attractive to the largely ignored, but very rapidly growing,
small and medium sized business sector, as well as to larger enterprises with
geographically dispersed locations.”
“Our Supper Club members found Koolspan to be the most compelling technology investment opportunity they’ve reviewed in the past three years,” said Karim Rahemtulla, Club Director. “Our members include business owners, executives, doctors and other professionals who understand the practical benefits of the technology for use in their businesses. The chance to invest in a successful serial entrepreneur, Koolspan founder Tony Fascenda, was particularly attractive.” Koolspan's patent-pending solution employs the tamper-resistant, inexpensive, “smart” token used in hundreds of millions of cell phones worldwide. Users simply insert a physical token, the Client Key, into a USB port on their laptop or other computing device. This gives them access to a Koolspan-enabled network “lock”, which is able to automatically authenticate and secure approved users who are logging onto the network from any location with 256-bit AES encryption. Combining authentication, security and remote access in a single solution, Koolspan technology works with every vendor’s wireless access point in the market today and in the future, and is fully compatible with all current and emerging standards. “Koolspan’s solution is a major breakthrough in securing wireless LANs, providing the missing puzzle piece for Wi-Fi transmissions,” stated Dr. Ashok Agrawala, Director of the MIND Lab at the University of Maryland, one of Koolspan’s beta sites and a center of expertise in wireless networking technologies and related issues.
“This financing is a ‘bridge’ to a larger round with institutional and strategic investors,” said Tony Fascenda, CEO of Koolspan. “This capital will enable us to complete beta tests and build our sales and marketing alliances, maintaining momentum toward commercial introduction.”
About Koolspan
Koolspan (www.koolspan.com) is a Bethesda, MD-based early stage company that is pioneering edge-of-network management technology for wireless networks. Founder Tony Fascenda who holds more than 10 wireless patents leads Koolspan. He has a history of delivering successful wireless solutions that solve complex technology problems with a simple, straightforward approach.
About Nobska Ventures
Nobska Ventures, invests partner and client capital in select technology companies and management buy-outs. Nobska Ventures is an affiliate of strategy consulting and merchant banking firm Nobska Group. Nobska Group creates, builds, and accelerates the success of growth companies, with particular interests and expertise in wireless communications, IT security, enterprise application software, health care and life sciences, and business process outsourcing.
Koolspan and the MIND Lab at the University of Maryland Receive Funding from MIPS
Scalable Wi-Fi security solution seen as "major breakthrough"
Business Editors/High-Tech Writers
COLLEGE PARK, MD, February 10, 2003 - Koolspan LLC, a Bethesda, MD based developer of security and authentication solutions for 802.11 Wireless LAN's (local area networks) and the Maryland Information Dynamics (MIND) Lab at the University of Maryland have been awarded a $69,300 grant from the Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS) program. This grant will support additional development and beta testing of Koolspan's unique "edge of network" solution to the serious security and user authentication concerns of business, government, institutional, and public hotspot users of Wi-Fi networks. Koolspan's solution is the only technology that is affordable and scalable from home or small office all the way to carrier-class levels with millions of users.
"We at the MIND lab believe that Koolspan's solution is a major breakthrough in securing wireless LANs, providing the missing puzzle piece for Wi-Fi transmissions," stated Dr. Ashok Agrawala, Director of the MIND Lab. "The simplicity of invoking the Koolspan solution will ensure that wireless LANs would become as secure as the wired connections they are attached to. This has been one of the final obstacles to full 802.11 acceptance and deployment."
"Our relationship with the MIND Lab, which began in September 2002, has proven to have been an enormous help to Koolspan's development of the most secure, yet inexpensive and scalable solution possible," noted Tony Fascenda, CEO of Koolspan. "Dr. Agrawala and his colleagues have created a true 'center of excellence' in wireless networking. The MIND Lab gained early notice as one of the first to identify the serious vulnerabilities of 802.11, and have built a world-class test and development facility with a terrific faculty and staff."
"The joint proposal by Koolspan and the MIND Lab was highly compelling and stood out among the many applications that we received, " stated Peter Hudson, Associate Director of MIPS. "The opportunity to support groundbreaking research and development at the University with major commercial potential for the State of Maryland is exactly what we're looking for. Our reviewers were quite impressed with the ingenuity of the technology, the rigor of the development and testing effort, and the commercial opportunity to lead in the fast-emerging field of wireless data networking."
About Koolspan
Koolspan is developing a secure, easy-to-use, scalable solution for 802.11 wireless local area networks. Commonly known as Wi-Fi, 802.11 is the fastest-growing segment of wireless computing in the U.S. and throughout the world. Koolspan's patent-pending technology delivers user authentication and network security by means of the tamper-resistant token used in millions of cell phones worldwide. Koolspan's bi-directional Layer 2 encryption solution works independently of the Wi-Fi radio technology allowing it to interface with all versions of 802.11 while providing ease of use when moving among home, office and public hotspot networks. Developed as an open-standards-based platform, Koolspan also provides application-specific functionality including Location-Based Services as well as additional solutions under development. To learn more about Koolspan, please visit www.koolspan.com,.
About MIND Lab
The Maryland Information and Network Dynamics (MIND) Lab is a joint University, private industry, and federal agency initiative designed to foster new, large-scale computer science projects in the areas of wireless networking, networking infrastructure and services, information services and information-centric applications, and information assurance and security. The MIND Lab is part of UMIACS, the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies. To learn more about the MIND Lab, please visit www.mindlab.umd.edu.
About MIPS
The Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS) program accelerates the commercialization of technology in Maryland by offering matching funds for collaborative R&D projects between industry and University System of Maryland faculty. MIPS is part of the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (MTECH), the University's premier unit for advancing technology through collaborative R&D, company incubation, expert solutions and new venture formation. To learn more about MIPS, please visit www.mips.umd.edu.
Mike Beasley and Nobska Join to Launch Legenta Software
(STEVENSON, MD)--Sep. 23, 2002--Michael R. "Mike" Beasley, former CEO of Icing Software, an $850 million independent business unit of IBM, and Nobska Group, a strategy consulting and merchant banking firm, today announced a partnership to form Legenta Inc. Legenta will aggressively pursue acquisition and contract management opportunities of non-core enterprise software products from Global 2000 software companies. Additionally, Legenta will acquire software assets from private equity and venture capital portfolios.
"My Nobska Group partners and I came to know and admire the judgment and managerial ability of Mike Beasley during his tenure at IBM. We hold Mike in the highest professional and personal regard. When Mike shared his passion with us to start this venture, it was easy to say yes, and to share his enthusiasm for this opportunity," stated Michael Ward, Partner, Nobska Group. "The timing and the market fundamentals all appeal to us: publicly held companies and private equity investors are seeking exit opportunities for many of their assets, and investors with ready cash are demanding higher-quality investment opportunities with greater expected profitability and proven management." Given Mike's outstanding track record managing such assets, coupled with today's markets, "we feel this is an opportune time to launch a company with Legenta's objectives and business design," continued Ward.
"The Nobska Group partners have successfully advised me for several years, and I have come to trust their analytical abilities, deal-making skills, and professional ethics. Partnering with them will allow me to focus on our future customers and products," noted Mike Beasley, President and CEO, Legenta.
About Legenta
Legenta will acquire and/or manage enterprise software products that are considered non-core by their owners. Some examples include:
Legenta's business design will closely mirror the operating model of IBM's independent business unit, Icing Software, which Mr. Beasley founded, and successfully managed from 1992 to 2001.
About Mike Beasley
Mr. Beasley was the CEO of Icing Software, an independent business unit of IBM Software founded to increase revenues and profitability from legacy and other software that IBM considered non-core. Mr. Beasley initiated Icing's formation in 1992, and together with a small team of outstanding managers developed a valuation and management methodology that identified which products to acquire, and how to substantially improve their financial performance. During Mr. Beasley's tenure, Icing's incremental revenue and profitability grew at a compound annual rate exceeding 100%, making it one of IBM's highest performing business units. At the time of Mr. Beasley's departure in 2001, Icing comprised $850 million dollars in annual revenue. Mr. Beasley received an IBM Executive Leadership Award for founding IBM's Database Tools business and subsequently managing its rapid, profitable growth as part of Icing.
Mr. Beasley joined IBM in 1971 and his career has centered on software and hardware engineering/business management. His specific areas of expertise include large-scale mission critical product development in Database Management (both relational and hierarchical), File Management, Network Testing, Application Development Languages, Business Professional (Office), and Artificial Intelligence. Mr. Beasley is active in professional and community activities. He is currently a member of the University of California's Outreach Advisory Board. In 2000, Mr. Beasley was named by Black Press Online as the most prominent African American in High Technology. Mr. Beasley earned his MBA from the Sloan School of Management at MIT.
About Nobska Group
Nobska Group is a strategy consulting and merchant banking firm working with early stage and middle market companies. Nobska has interests in enterprise application software, wireless communications, IT security, health care and life sciences, business process outsourcing, materials sciences, financial services, publishing, and consumer products, distribution and retail. In addition to Nobska's core strategy consulting services, the firm provides transactional counsel in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, management buy-outs, recapitalization structuring, strategic partnerships, and debt and equity financing. Founded in 1998, Nobska brings to its diverse clients and portfolio companies an entrepreneurial and creative spirit, grounded in rigorous analytical disciplines and years of hands-on management and transactional experience. Each of Nobska's senior partners contributes more than 20 years of strategy consulting, venture investing, and entrepreneurial management experience.
Nobska Group Makes
Investment in Koolspan
Business Editors/High-Tech Writers
STEVENSON, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 19, 2002--Strategy consulting and merchant banking firm, Nobska Group, today announced an investment and strategic consulting relationship with Koolspan LLC, a Bethesda, Md.-based development-stage company. Koolspan provides groundbreaking solutions for 802.11 Wireless LAN (local area network) security, authentication and application development.
"My partners and I examine hundreds of companies and their business plans annually. Koolspan easily rose above the others. In addition to its experienced management team, led by wireless veteran Tony Fascenda, we were drawn to the ingenuity behind the Koolspan solution," stated Frank Baitman, Partner, Nobska Group. "Their underlying technology safeguards wireless data and provides security-conscious users with confidence in Wireless LANs. What is most compelling, though, is that the Koolspan solution enables other companies to bring their creative applications to market. We think the combination of experience and innovative technology is a winner."
"Frank Baitman and his colleagues at Nobska Group have been successful in guiding companies to profitability. Their considerable experience and skills will not only help us to succeed in the Wireless LAN market, but enable vertical solutions that provide immediate customer value," noted Tony Fascenda, President and CEO, Koolspan. "My partners and I believe these attributes create a synergy with Koolspan's team that presents great potential."
About Koolspan
Koolspan is a development-stage company providing a secure, easy-to-use,
scalable solution for 802.11 wireless local area networks. Commonly known as
Wi-Fi, 802.11 is the fastest-growing segment of wireless computing in the U.S.
and throughout the world. Koolspan's patent-pending technology delivers user
authentication and network security by means of the tamper-resistant token used
in a variety of technologies worldwide. Koolspan's solution works independently
of the Wi-Fi radio technology allowing it to interface with all versions of
802.11 while providing ease of use when moving among home, office and public
hotspot networks. Developed as an open-standards-based platform, Koolspan also
provides application-specific functionality including Location-Based Services as
well as additional solutions under development. To learn more about Koolspan
please visit koolspan.com.
Back to the top
Announcement: Frank
Baitman Joins Nobska Group as Partner
Dear Nobska Group friends and colleagues,
We recently celebrated Nobska's fourth anniversary. We thank so many of you for your support and interest, and would like to share with you some recent news.
We are pleased to announce that Nobska Group has grown recently; Frank Baitman has joined our partnership. Frank's recent work examines how emerging technologies influence business strategy and corporate investment decisions, most recently as a Research Fellow with the California-based Institute for the Future, and previously as Director of Business Strategy for IBM, and as a marketing executive with IBM's TJ Watson Research Center.
Nobska began with its three founders' shared beliefs and values, with regard to our strategy and merchant banking work and ethical principles. We coalesced around these "Principles", when we founded our firm, and we continue to strive to organize our engagements and conduct around them.
Since 1998, we have had the good fortune to receive referrals from many of you into some interesting company situations. Typically, these have been mid-market and early stage companies facing critical issues, challenges and decisions, such as:
In these situations, we bring extensive depth and breadth of experience in strategic analysis, investment banking, and business management. We believe we help decision makers rapidly understand their choices and to prioritize their resources to maximum advantage. We aim to balance our analytical fact-based approach with pragmatic actionable recommendations, informed by our experiences as owners, investors, executives and advisors to businesses. We help management to successfully execute these recommendations; emphasizing results, not reports.
In our strategy work, we consistently focus on building our client's
competitive advantage and translating that advantage into increasing profits.
Our goal is to increase client shareholder value a minimum of 10X of what
Nobska is paid; we have a track record of exceeding that goal.
In our merchant banking work: financing, mergers & acquisitions, management
buy-outs, valuations, Nobska brings an unusually rigorous strategic perspective
to transactions. We help our clients and their financial partners fully
understand the company's strategic situation, competitive advantages, and
challenges. With these insights, our clients are better prepared to make the
right choices, at the right prices. Even more than our completed transactions,
we are proud of the "deals not done" by our clients, as a result of our
recommendations.
Some of these engagements are profiled in the representative work section of our website. We invite you to peruse them. These engagements have included Fortune 500, middle market and early stage companies across diverse industries, including:
From time to time, we may share with you more specifics regarding individual
situations as we seek acquisition opportunities, buyers for businesses,
strategic partners, executive teams, or financial partners for our clients and
portfolio companies. We are always happy to provide feedback on an informal
basis on situations or investments that you may be considering. Please let us
know if you have particular interest in specific sorts of situations, markets,
technologies, etc.
Our best regards and thanks for your support,
Charles P. Moore
Laura M. Moore
Michael R. Ward
Franklin Baitman
Back to the top