Acta Wireless Ltd. is hoping to act as the bridge between having a good idea and turning it into a company.
“Our ability is to pick trends early,” explained Anders Schonberg, one of Acta’s three partners.
Acta toes the line between venture-capital company and consulting firm. Schonberg and his associates sell consulting services to a small list of wireless carriers, and use those carrier connections to figure out where to direct their venture funding. The company’s operations also work in reverse: Acta funds companies and ideas that help meet the needs of the carriers it counsels.
“It’s not a traditional venture model,” Schonberg acknowledged.
Acta recently scored some major push within the wireless industry with the appointment of Paul Palmieri, Verizon Wireless’ former head of business development and programming. Palmieri joins Acta as a partner and will head up the firm’s mobile entertainment practice.
“It’s a sector that we find particularly exciting at the moment,” Schonberg said.
Schonberg hails from Argo Global Capital, where he and colleague Alan MacIntosh covered the wireless industry. The two left Argo with an idea to start a company that would delve more deeply into wireless, one that would be able to pick out trends and opportunities before anyone else.
“The capital going into the wireless industry could be better spent,” Schonberg said, charging that most venture firms play follow the leader instead of discovering new opportunities.
Together with MacIntosh, Schonberg launched Acta in January with an eye toward uncovering those new opportunities. He said Acta’s consulting/funding model helps it see more clearly into the market.
Acta offers advisory services to a small collection of wireless carriers. Schonberg declined to name the company’s clients, but said they are well-known operators. He said the company helps carriers shake out their business models as well as find new opportunities.
On the VC side, Acta looks for opportunities on the basement level. The company matches good business ideas with capable executives, and then provides relatively small amounts of private funding to support the business. If the startup requires more money, Acta then acts as the company’s fund-raiser with established VC firms.
“Our role is … building the company right,” Schonberg said.
Acta today funds WaveMetrix, which provides research into consumers’ online habits. WaveMetrix operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Acta, and Schonberg is the startup’s chief executive. Such an arraignment is atypical in the venture-capital market; firms usually offer funding and sit on the startup’s board. Schonberg said Acta is working with other startups, but he declined to name them.
Schonberg and his team lately have been focusing on the wireless content space. Schonberg said there are significant opportunities in the so-called off-portal arena-the part of the market that sits outside a carrier-approved list of applications and content.
“I think you’ll see them (carriers) focus on the few services that are the most relevant,” Schonberg said.
Carriers likely will center on a relatively short list of ringtones, games and other applications, offerings that will satisfy users’ initial cravings. However, as the market matures and users become more savvy, there is an opportunity for startups to sell targeted content directly to subscribers, outside of a carrier’s purview.
“Selling content is difficult for carriers,” Schonberg said. Off-portal content “is something that’s very beneficial.”
Schonberg pointed to VeriSign Inc.’s Jamster offering as an example of the future of the wireless data market.
