Firefly raises $3M to restart, revealing MVNO problems
Firefly Mobile, which sells a small mobile device for very young children with strict controls on the which numbers they can call and receive calls from, has raised $3 million more to restart.
VentureWire has the news this morning (sub required).
The company had high hopes as it went to market last year, its concept appeared compelling. But Firefly also chose to offer its own wireless service and customer service, using the infrastructure of other carriers to act as an independent so-called Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO). The costs of customer service proved expensive, hurting the company’s performance.
So the company’s original investors, Sevin Rosen Funds and ComVentures, which had helped pump $26 million into the company last year, chose not to invest again.
GIV Venture Partners and Leo Capital Holdings are the remaining investors, and according to VentureWire.
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