Israeli start-up E4X has completed a $14 million financing round, led by Adams Street Partners and the Venture Strategy Group. Pitango Venture Capital and Delta Ventures, which previously invested in the company, also participated in the round, which was oversubscribed. E4X originally planned to raise $8 million. The employees were compensated for the dilution of their holdings caused by the over-subscription.
E4X develops solutions that enable e-commerce sites to sell products in various currencies, without being involved in the inconvenience of multi-currency trading, while receiving the revenue from their worldwide sales in their own currency.
E4X sells licenses for its product, and in effect carries out currency exchanges for e-commerce companies. Its Internet-based solutions enable shoppers to enter e-commerce sites and pay in their own currency, even if the product is originally priced in a different currency.
Founded in 1999, E4X has functioned without external financing for the past three years, since raising $6 million in 2000 at a company value of $18 million.
E4X CEO Yuval Tal said that the capital raised was designated to help the company establish itself: “The money will contribute to the company’s financial stability. We’re confident that the capital raised, together with revenue and the company’s positioning, will enable us to increase our market presence. We don’t need money for day-to-day operations, but this amount of cash demonstrates financial credibility, and will help us make deals with larger enterprises demanding financial stability.”
Tal asserted that the current financing round, which was closed fairly quickly, constituted a vote of confidence by the investors in the company and its employees.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on January 8, 2004