Just read that FON has raised more money to help it grow. Here’s the press release:
Great news! We’ve raised another $9.5 million to grow the movement! We’ve got lots of great plans for the money. We’re going to Launch FON in Russia, launch the Fonera 2.0 (the fonera that uploads and downloads stuff to and from the internet while you are doing something else with your laptop) and develop the fonera 802.11n for an end of the year launch!
I’m really exited we were able to raise so much money, and not just because I’m expecting a gigantic raise ;)! It’s a challenging economic climate and an investment this large shows support for our business model. The leading investor in the round was the US Venture Capital arm of Sistema, Russia´s leading telco. Other investors in this C round include Google, British Telecom, Digital Garage and our founder and CEO Martin Varsavsky.
Great stuff, isn’t it? I’m a great believer in FON’s service and it’s great to see them find more people who believe in the company enough to invest in it. One great thing they added recently is the ability to find out how many FONeros there are an area you’re visiting. So, for example, if you’re heading down to Branson Missouri, you can search FON and find out hotspots in the area.