Knowledge management start-up Orbital Software Ltd says it expects to be in a position to float on the Nasdaq market within 18 months, even though the company is just emerging from a ‘pre- revenue’ stage. Orbital, a Scottish company originally founded in Edinburgh, but which now also has offices in Palo Alto, is entering a crowded market space. But rather than trying to crack the full knowledge management problem, its Personaserver and Knowledgeware products focus on the management of expertise and profiling, says Orbital CEO Kevin Dorren. This means Orbital’s software can integrate with existing document management, groupware and search solutions without replacing those investments.
Founded in 1995, Orbital was one of the first consultancies to specialize in Java and was self-financing until 1997. Then, with seed funding from venture capital firm 3i and Scottish Equity Partnerships, Orbital began a transformation into a software product company, focusing on creating a Java-based knowledge management package. That turns potential competitors, such as PC Docs Group, Fulcrum Technologies Inc (both soon to be integrated within Hummingbird Communications Ltd) and Verity Inc, into potential partners, and it narrows the field of direct competitors to Excalibur Technologies Inc, Autonomy Systems Inc and Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Abuzz Inc.
The approach has won favor among investors. Orbital’s second round of financing, in December 1998, secured $5.1m. As well as including what Dorren calls Novell’s first non-US investment, the original backers were joined by the NatWest IT venture fund. In raising the stakes higher, the venture capitalists pushed for the appointment of a veteran manager. Brian Grey, who joined as chief operating officer in mid-1998, is a former executive of Spider Systems, the Edinburgh-based remote access software house bought by Shiva in 1995 for $70m.
Dorren insists that Orbital will be in a position to float on Nasdaq in 18 months, even though it only shipped its first product in July 1998 and will have revenues under $1m in 1999. Orbital has so far only disclosed one major customer win: PR Newswire, the web-based press release distribution service. Investors will be expecting many more by the end of 1999, or Orbital is likely to be sold for its expertise before it fulfills its Nasdaq ambitions.
