WebSentric GmbH, a developer of internet communications software, is considering whether to float on the German Neur Markt exchange, on Nasdaq, or on both. The Munich, Germany company only recently changed its status from privately held, to a public GmbH, but says it could be ready for a full flotation within 12 months.
The company was founded early last year by two expatriate Americans: Bill Barhydt a former Netscape director, who is now WebSentric’s CEO, and ex-Microsoft employee Vincent James, the new company’s chief operating officer. A number of other former Netscape executives are also on the WebSentric board.
The company’s flagship product is Presentation.Net, a platform for group communication over the internet which, explained James, enables companies to make presentations with full graphics over the web with no more than a browser. It thus obviates the need for plug-ins (as with Broadcast.com), or protocols that make it necessary to adjust firewalls, he said. We’ll take a PowerPoint presentation and, regardless of whether it’s on IE or Netscape, we’ll enable you to carry it out with any 4x browser.
Presentation.Net is currently being tested by prospective customers and will become commercially available in October, James predicted. Revenue for this year is forecast to be in the range of DM 0.9m – DM 1.5m ($480,000 – $802,000).
WebSentric will embark on its third round of funding in the fourth quarter of this year, aiming to raise some $15m-$17m from both European and US investors. While the first round, in March last year, was entirely German, with venture capitalists Technostart and Technologieholding providing the funds, while the second was a US affair, the VCs in that case being Partech International and Apogee Ventures.
The decision to have a European HQ, said James, was motivated by the availability of developers and engineers who are conversant with Dynamic HTML at affordable rates. There is, however, a US sales and marketing operation in San Mateo, California, and much of the next phase of funding will be invested in developing that business, given the importance of the US market.
Flotation will most probably be carried out in the second half of next year, said James. The possibility of a dual listing is mulled as a means of reflecting the company’s dual funding base and target market.
