Out of the ashes of failed Wi-Fi startup Mobility Networks rises a new effort, Azaire Networks Inc., a company with much of the same technology and staffing but with a slightly different-and wider-business focus.
“We’re not just focused on wireless anymore,” said Naveen Dhar, vice president of sales and marketing for Azaire. Dhar was the vice president of marketing and business development for Mobility Networks. “We are expanding our target base.”
Mobility Networks ceased operations several months ago, having burned through its more than $30 million in venture funding since its founding in 1999. The company counted up to 30 employees. Dubbed WiFiRAN, Mobility Networks’ technology covered authentication, billing and security and allowed mobile operators to offer seamless roaming between wide area networks and local area hot spots.
But Mobility Networks was unable to scrape together enough business to get by, Dhar said, and eventually ran out of funding. The company’s assets were sold in June.
Interestingly, Azaire Networks was there to scoop up Mobility Networks’ Wi-Fi technology assets in the June sale. Azaire is made up of several former Mobility Networks executives and was founded at about the same time Mobility Networks shut down. Bill Howe was Mobility Networks’ former chief executive officer and now works as Azaire’s president and CEO, and Zaheer Allam was Mobility Networks’ former vice president of engineering and now holds the same title at Azaire.
Dhar said Azaire’s product offering is much the same as that of Mobility Networks, but includes several key changes. First, Azaire supports a range of authentication technologies, from subscriber identity module cards to short message service messages to credit card numbers, while Mobility Networks supported only SIM cards. Second, Azaire is targeting wireline operators as well as wireless carriers, while Mobility Networks focused solely on wireless carriers.
Dhar described Mobility Networks’ offering as a “longer-term sale.” He said Azaire can profit in the short term due to its flexible technology and selling approach.
“Azaire is a new company,” Dhar said. “We’re in the same business segment but with a different emphasis.”
Indeed, Azaire already counts one customer-Rogers AT&T Wireless in Canada-which had previously been working with Mobility Networks. Rogers AT&T Wireless said it will work with Azaire to deploy its Wi-Fi offering. Dhar declined to offer further details. Dhar said Azaire has received venture funding, but declined to provide specifics.
Dhar said Azaire will formally announce its launch in the coming weeks and will provide further details at that time.
