Visto Corp. will have no trouble paying its lawyer fees.
The mobile e-mail service provider raked in another $51 million this week in a funding round led by Oak Investment Partners. The haul follows a $70 million round that closed last November; Visto is believed to have raised a staggering $250 million in funding during its nine-year history.
Oak Investment Partners led the round, and other existing partners including Draper Fisher Jurveston, Meritech Capital Partners and Blueprint Ventures also participated. DFJ Growth Fund, which is led by former America Online Chief Executive Officer Barry Schuler, also joined the funding; Schuler joined Visto’s board under terms of the financing.
Visto “has ably positioned itself to lead this market as it transitions from early adopters to mass-market growth,” Schuler said in a prepared statement. “I look forward to working with (Visto CEO Brian Bogosian) and his team, who have positioned Visto to succeed and to join a company where I can help apply lessons learned growing a global business.”
Indeed, Visto has gained substantial traction in the still-untapped mobile e-mail space. The company distributes its white-label solution through carriers around the world including Cingular Wireless L.L.C., Sprint Nextel Corp., Vodafone Group, Softbank Mobile and Telus Mobility.
But Visto’s legal strategy could have as much potential as its business plan. The software developer scored a win earlier this year in a patent-infringement lawsuit against Seven Networks Inc., and has brought similar claims against heavyweights Research In Motion Ltd.-which promptly filed a countersuit-and Microsoft Corp.
Bogosian has bristled at suggestions Visto has effectively become a legal firm instead of a developer of mobile e-mail technology.
“For us to ignore the fact that some of our competitors are blatantly misappropriating this technology with no license, with no approach to Visto (to acquire a license), would not be doing a service to our customers, our employees and our investors,” Bogosian said earlier this year.
